


A Repeat of the Past

by Manga_bird



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: Card Games, F/M, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-02
Updated: 2016-03-02
Packaged: 2018-05-24 08:39:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 45,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6147941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Manga_bird/pseuds/Manga_bird
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Updated in 2007</p><p>Tea and Kaiba get closer when they both start having dreams of Egypt. Meanwhile the Neo Ghouls are back, with a new leader, and they must be defeated in their quest to gain all seven millennium items.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Tea walked into the deserted classroom, _where is everybody?_ She thought as she went and sat in her chair. She was in the first column, three back from the front. Yugi and the others weren't there yet; the only other person in the room was Seto Kaiba. He owned the Kaiba Corporation, and half of Domino city. He was about six foot tall with short dark brown hair and cobalt blue eyes that were usually cold and hard. Kaiba wore his school uniform, black trousers, a dark green shirt and a dark blue trench coat. At the moment he was typing on his laptop, as he usually did during form time.

"Morning Kaiba." Tea greeted as she got a book out of her bag, she didn't expect an answer. He rarely spoke to anyone and when he did it was usually to patronise them or challenge them, maybe even to fire them. The only person Tea knew that he cared about was his little brother, Mokuba.

"Damn." Kaiba muttered under his breath, Tea looked up from her book and glanced at Kaiba. _I wonder what's up with him._ She mused. She got up and went to stand behind him, glancing over his shoulder at the complex figures and writing. It looked like one hell of a mess,

"How can you read this?" Tea asked, not really thinking about whether Kaiba would answer or not. He fixed the screen with an icy stare, he didn't particularly like Tea or anyone else in this school and he hated it when people tried to be nice to him.

"Actually it isn't supposed to look like this, my secretary made a mess of it." Kaiba replied coldly as he tapped some buttons on the keyboard, trying to get the spreadsheet back to its original state, _that's the last straw! That secretary has to go!_ Kaiba thought to himself, smiling slightly at the thought of seeing the look on her face as he fired her. He sighed, the figures refused to move where he wanted them.

"Why don't you try this?" Tea suggested as she leaned over Kaiba's shoulders, her fingers flying delicately over the keyboard. The figures and writing were instantly put into two separate columns, which is the way Kaiba liked his spreadsheets to be. He tensed his shoulders,

"If I want your help I'll ask for it." He snapped, Tea sighed and put her hands on his shoulders, gently massaging them and relaxing Kaiba's tense muscles.

"Jesus Kaiba you really need to lighten up." she joked; Kaiba shrugged her off roughly, though secretly he had been enjoying the massage. He went back to tapping on his keyboard in silence and Tea went back to her book, still wondering where the guys were, _I didn't get here that early did I?_ she wondered.

"Yo Tea! Where you bin? We looked everywhere for ya!" Joey stated as he walked into the room. Tea put her book down and watched as Yugi, Tristin, Bakura and Duke entered the room.

"Hi guys, I looked around but couldn't find you so I came here." Tea replied as Joey sat in the chair behind her, Tea turned side ways as Bakura sat in front, turning the chair to face her desk. Yugi sat opposite Bakura, in front of Kaiba and Duke sat behind Kaiba. Tristin usually sat in front of Yugi but for now he decided to sit on Yugi's desk. Kaiba held back a sigh of annoyance as they began to talk, interrupting his work. All of the boys wore the same school uniform as Kaiba, except they all had white shirts and short royal blue jackets and Yugi wore the millennium puzzle on a chain round his neck.

"So, how's Serenity doing? I heard she was having a hard time at her school." Tea asked; Joey shrugged his shoulders. Serenity is Joey's younger sister who lives with her mother while Joey lives with his father. Joey had short blonde hair, which almost covered his dark brown eyes,

"As far as I know she's fine, but I ain't seen her since school started." Joey replied as he leaned back on his chair, Yugi was about to warn Joey about leaning on the back legs of his chair when he lost balance and fell backwards with the chair, this was followed by hysterical laughter from the gang, and even a rare amused chuckle from Kaiba.

"What you laughin' at rich boy?" Joey asked coldly, he and Kaiba got on like cats and dogs. They hated each other; Kaiba momentarily stopped typing and turned to look at Joey, malice glinting in his eyes.

"I'm laughing at you monkey boy, I thought every one knew that these chairs weren't made to lean back on, but then I guess it would take intelligence to remember that, and I know that you are lacking in that department." Kaiba replied with a small smirk on his face, Tea tried not to laugh. She knew it wasn't a nice thing that Kaiba had just said but it was amusing to hear Joey called monkey boy.

"Why you! I'm gonna tear you limb from limb you little!" Joey shouted as he launched himself at Kaiba. Tristan and Duke held him back as he struggled to get at Kaiba, who ignored Joey and went back to his stock reports, savouring his small victory. Tea sat and watched Kaiba as Tristan, Duke and Joey stopped fighting and sat down. _I can't figure him out, why is he so cold?_ She wondered, Kaiba felt her gaze and looked at her coldly. She held his gaze for a moment and looked away, _he seems so lonely._

 

* * *

 

Tea was now in her normal clothes, a cream shirt, shorts, long white socks that went over the knees and white trainers. She walked nervously up the steps of Kaiba Corp and through the glass doors, catching a glance of her neck length brown hair and sky blue eyes in her reflection as she went inside.

"Can I help you Miss?" a security guard asked as she walked in, looking around for a front desk, Tea turned in surprise as the tall man in a black suit walked towards her.

"I have an application form to hand in, do you know where I go?" she asked. The security guard gestured for her to follow him and led her to the lift, they waited for the lift to arrive and Tea stepped inside,

"Go to the top floor and knock on the wooden doors at the front." He ordered. Tea thanked him and started her journey up to the top floor. As the lift stopped she was confronted by Mokuba, Kaiba's younger brother, waiting to get in and go down.

"Hey Tea." He greeted cheerfully as she stepped out of the lift. He was wearing a yellow and purple stripped top and dark blue jeans with white trainers, his long black hair sticking out all over the place making him look mischievous with those shining dark brown eyes.

"Hi Mokuba." Tea replied to the short boy as he bounded into the lift. Tea went to the double door and knocked, there were no other doors here. This must be an office of some sort. There was a familiar cold voice ordering her to enter and as she pushed the doors open she saw Kaiba sitting behind a large oak desk in a black leather chair, leaning over reports, with the glass wall behind him over looking the city. "I have an application form for you." Tea stated as she walked over to the desk, Kaiba grunted and pointed to a tray beside him with his pen, he didn't even bother to look up. Tea put the white sheet of paper in the tray and left without another word, she knew Kaiba didn't like talking while he was working, _if he even likes talking at all._

The doors closed and Kaiba looked up, _was that whom I thought it was?_ he wondered as he looked at the form. It was; Tea Gardener had applied for the job, _great, just what I need. A secretary full of crap about love and friendship. No thanks._ He thought as he picked up the form and held it over the bin, but something stopped him from dropping it, _that wouldn't be fair, she could be the best person for the job, unlikely though._ He thought as he put the application back in the tray with the others. _It would be foolish to throw away the best worker just because of personal dislike._ He decided as he picked up the pen and continued his work.

 

* * *

 

"Hello Tea." Bakura said as he caught up with her. She was walking down the street, probably on her way to the old hide out, which was where she lived at the moment. She had had an argument of some sort with her mother,

 

"Oh, hi Bakura." Tea replied as he caught up to her. They continued to walk together, talking about the normal daily events. The shops were closing now; _it's almost time._ Bakura thought as he looked at his watch, Bakura was average height with long spiky white hair and his eyes were hazel brown. He wore light blue trousers and a jacket with white trainers and a blue and white striped T-shirt beneath the jacket.

"I have to go, I promised some one I'd meet them in the park." Bakura excused, Tea smiled and watched him run off down the road, the girl's county high would have finished a few minutes ago.

 

* * *

 

Bakura reached the park and sat on the swings. She walked through here every night and sat on the bench to read for an hour. Bakura looked around for her, he was a little early. He sat gently rocking back and fourth as he waited and then she was there, her long light purple hair flowing in the wind, he dark blue eyes shining, a straw boater on the head and a yellow dress and jacket. _She is the most beautiful creature in the world!_ He thought to himself, **oh, shut up and stop moping!** said a voice; it was Yami Bakura, though Bakura called him Ryou. Bakura sat terrified; Ryou was his best friend at times but his worst enemy at others. She sat down and opened her book, reading out loud in a soft whisper.

 

Bakura continued to swing slowly, watching her constantly until she looked up and he looked away quickly. _I wish I could talk to her._ He thought to himself, he suddenly noticed that she was looking at him and he had forgotten to look away, he felt himself going red as he hopped off the swing and walked away, he didn't go far, just to a bench further down. _That was close, far too close!_ He thought. **Oh, for God's sake!** Ryou sighed from inside his head; **don't you see she is still watching you?** he continued.

Bakura looked back and saw her looking, she looked back to her book momentarily and then back at him to see if he was still watching, and he was. She smiled sweetly and waved, he froze, _Ryou, what do I do?_ Bakura asked in a panic, feeling his body tense. **Just relax and wave back.** Ryou ordered. Bakura lifted a hand and waved stiffly. The girl stood and walked over with her book, looking down at him shyly.

"Hello. May I sit here?" she asked sweetly, Bakura gulped and nodded nervously, feeling himself shaking. She sat down and turned to look at him with those pale purple eyes that shone in the sunset. She had her book on her lap, it was one that Bakura had read before and enjoyed immensely.

"The Handmaid's Tale. I've read that, it's an amazing book." Bakura said enthusiastically, forgetting his nerves for a moment, he could talk about books for hours. The girl agreed and they spent a short time talking about the book.

"You know, I've seen you here day after day and I don't even know you name." The girl said questioningly, _he seems so shy, and he's really cute too. Have I seen him before?_ The girl wondered,

"Oh, sorry. I'm Ryou Bakura, though I prefer to be called Bakura." He stammered shyly, holding a hand on the back of his head with his eyes closed, his nose slightly wrinkled as he smiled shyly,

"I'm Liviana Pegasus." She replied smiling sweetly, Bakura took her delicate hand and kissed it, he was like an English gentleman. Liviana blushed, making her looked even more beautiful in Bakura's opinion. **Oh please! Spare me the mushy stuff!** Ryou sighed within Bakura, _shut up Ryou, can't you go somewhere or something?_ Bakura replied. Bakura thought for a moment bout what to say next,

"Pegasus, not a relation of Maximillion Pegasus, the inventor of Duel Monsters?" Bakura asked; it seemed a harmless enough question. Liviana nodded as she put her book back in her bag.

"He's my older brother." She replied, _I hadn't realised he had a family!_ Liviana leaned back with her bag on her lap,

"He left home years ago because he started up his business and since them he's been working and never had time for us, but now that I'm in high school I chose to go and live with him because mother has no time for me. Not since she met her new boyfriend, I don't feel safe around him." She continued. She looked at her watch and got up, pulling her bag onto her back. It was time for her to go now, Bakura kissed her hand again and she left quickly. Her brother's limo should be waiting at the gates for her.

Bakura walked in the opposite direction with his hands in his pockets, in one of his pockets was the millennium eye that he had won in a duel from Pegasus, Maximillion that is. Bakura doubted that he would be able to see Liviana again if her brother found out; they didn't exactly get along.

 

* * *

 

"Come on Yugi, hurry up." Grandpa said as they walked down the dark high street. Yugi's Grandpa was called Solomon Muto, though all of Yugi's friends called him Grandpa or Mr. Muto. Grandpa was quite short, around five foot tall. Yugi was about four foot five at the moment, though he was over due a growth spurt. Grandpa was quite large; he had a beard and moustache and grey hair that spiked up, a little like his grandson's. His hair was covered by a black cap like old English men used to wear, and still did in some places. Grandpa wore his usual grey dungarees and white shirt.

 

"Coming Grandpa!" Yugi replied from a few feet behind. Yugi had innocent looking purple eyes and his hair was three colours, it spiked up at the back with two colours, it was black at the back with purple at the front and his spiked fringed was blonde, and somehow this had happened naturally. Grandpa stopped to allow Yugi to catch up with him. "Hey, did you hear that Grandpa?" Yugi asked, as he got closer to Grandpa. They were by a dark alley way the was near to the game shop that Grandpa owned. Grandpa listened. A weak groan, there was someone in the alley,

"Yes, stay here." Grandpa ordered as he stepped towards the alley, but Yugi stopped him before he could walk into the darkness.

"No Grandpa, you can't go by yourself. Either we both go or we both stay." he argued, _thought I'll come back once he's asleep and see anyway._ Yugi thought. **No Yugi, it isn't safe.** Yami Yugi said with concern. Yami was Yugi's best friend and they both cared deeply for each other. _Don't worry Pharaoh, you'll be right with me._ Yugi replied.

"All right, come on." Grandpa replied, knowing that Yugi wouldn't take no for an answer, _I don't want Yugi to get hurt._ he decided as they both walked down the alley. The alley was dark and they could barely see where they going. Suddenly Yugi saw a shape, it was a boy, perhaps his own age. He had shoulder length hair and was wrapped in a cloak, he seemed to be unconscious and Yugi noticed some liquid on the floor around him, _wait! I know him! It's…_

"Marik!" Yugi cried as he ran to the teenager's side. He opened his eyes slowly; they were out of focus and he barely seemed able to keep them open. Yugi went down on his knees and cradled Marik's head.

"Come on, we'll take him to the shop." Grandpa said quickly as he approached. Yugi nodded and they pulled Marik to his feet, staggering towards the shop. Once there Grandpa took Marik while Yugi unlocked the door. They then took Marik up to the spare room and put him in the bed. Yugi looked down at his trousers and saw they were dark red at the knees; it was blood he had knelt in earlier.

"Yugi are you all right?" asked Grandpa as he looked at Yugi's knees, Yugi nodded and pulled Marik's cloak off,

"I'm all right, but Marik is another matter." Yugi replied. There were two short swords on Marik's belt and he had a gash on his right arm, but other than that he seemed okay, _what was he doing in the alley?_ Yugi wondered as he looked at the two blood covered swords, _more importantly; whose blood was I kneeling in in the alley?_

 

* * *

 

"Where am I?" Marik wondered as he sat up, he felt a little sick. He had collapsed in the alley after fighting off three of the Neo Ghouls. They had once been his followers and apparently their new leader saw him as a threat. _Shit! I have a headache!_ Marik winced as he put a hand to his head. His arm was in a bandage and there was blood showing through. The sun was shining through an open window; it was summer and almost time for the holidays, though that didn't matter to Marik. He got up and walked to the door, it wasn't locked so he wasn't a prisoner.

 

"Oh, you're awake." Grandpa stated as he walked into the living room. Marik remembered this man; he was the Pharaoh's Grandfather. Marik bowed to him as he stepped into the room. "Go and take a shower, the bathroom is there and there are some clothes of Joey's here that he never wears that may fit you." Grandpa said kindly as he handed Marik some black trousers, pants and a tank top. Marik walked to the bathroom and stepped inside,

"Thank you for your kindness." He said as he closed the door. Grandpa watched him go inside and went into the bedroom, there was blood all over the sheets where Marik had lost blood from the cut on his arm and the swords, now clean, were leaning on the wall near the draws that sat beside the door. Grandpa took the sheets and replaced them with some new ones. Marik walked in with his old clothes and the damp towels,

"Straight in the washer." Grandpa ordered. Marik nodded and put the items in the washing machine in the kitchen, which was behind the sofa and to the right of the stairs. Marik looked at the clock, it was three in the afternoon. _Have I really been out that long?_ He wondered in shock.

"How are you feeling?" Grandpa asked kindly; Marik looked so lost and alone. He was like an abandoned puppy with those big brown eyes and his now clean light platinum hair. He had a series of gold loops around his neck and some gold bands on his left arm; the ones on his right arm had been removed and replaced by an untidy bandage. Grandpa stepped forward and re-tied the bandage.

"I'm okay, thank you." Marik replied simply, he was a little nervous at the moment. Grandpa led him to the sofa and sat him down, handing him a hot cup of tea. Marik took it and sipped at it slowly, _I wonder where Ishizu and Odion are._ Grandpa wondered as he watched Marik drink.

"Do you have anywhere to go?" Grandpa asked; Marik shook his head slowly, looking at the cup. "Then you'll stay here." Grandpa decided as Yugi, Joey and Tristan walked in with their school bags. Joey looked shocked to see Marik, though Yugi had told him earlier.

"No, I couldn't possibly," Marik argued, he was cut off by Grandpa though,

"You are staying here. I won't have you wandering the streets at night all by yourself." He stated firmly. Yugi sat on the chair to the right of the sofa, Tristan took the other chair to the left and Joey sat beside Marik, still a little nervous about him. Marik got to his feet and knelt before Yugi,

"Pharaoh, I thank you for you kindness." He said humbly, Yugi blushed a little and tried to think of how to stop him doing that.

"It's fine Marik, you don't have to do that, sit down please, you don't have to kneel every time you see me." He stammered awkwardly. Marik did as he was told and sat on the chair silently while Joey whistled to break the awkward silence that followed. Grandpa took the finished cups to the kitchen and Marik followed.

"I really must repay you for your kindness, tell me what I can do." Marik begged, Yugi heard this and went to the kitchen door, leaving Joey and Tristan fighting about something or other.

"I know, why don't you work in the shop? I don't like the idea of Grandpa being on those high ladders and carrying those heavy boxes on his own." Yugi suggested. Marik turned in surprise and was half way to his knees when Yugi held his hands out to stop him, "No, don't do that." He ordered. Marik got to his feet and bowed, Yugi didn't like this either, but it was better than the kneeling. Grandpa looked thoughtful, _it's a good idea. I have been looking for someone to help me run the shop._

"All right, but I won't let you work for free, I'll pay you fifty dollars a week." He decided. It wasn't much, but the card shop wasn't the most popular place in the world, although it did get busy sometimes. Marik nodded in agreement and left the room; he was going to bed again.

"Hey Yug, come on, what's keepin' ya?" Joey shouted from the kitchen. Yugi went back to the living room where Joey and Tristan were watching a duel on the duelling channel. It was a channel where you could watch past duels and current ones if there was a tournament on at the time, but there were no tournaments at the moment. "Hey look, it's Mai." Joey said excitedly as a blonde woman placed a card on the duel disc. Joey looked at her perfect figure and determined purple eyes; _I wonder where she is now._ Joe wondered as he watched. He had not seen this duel, but it was from the Battle City Tournament that had finished almost a year ago. He still remembered standing in the road watching Mai drive away; _I hope she comes back some day._

"Joey… Hey Joey, are you in there man?" Tristan asked as he waved a tanned hand in front of Joey's eyes. Joey looked over, still not paying attention,

"Hm?" he groaned, Tristan rolled his eyes and went back to watching the duel. Yugi laughed softly and sat back on the sofa with his two friends. There was a noise, _what is that?_ Yugi wondered as he got up and walked towards the noise, it was coming from Marik's room. **Yugi!** Yami objected as Yugi put his hand on the door handle. _Oh, come on! Something could be wrong!_ Yugi excused as he opened the door a crack. Inside Yugi saw Marik training with his swords. He swung gracefully at invisible opponents and used gymnastics to flip and twist to dodge invisible attacks.

"Pharaoh." He said in surprise as he bowed to Yugi. Yugi hadn't realised he had been so obvious; he opened the door and stepped inside.

"Hi, sorry, but I heard the noise and thought you might be having some sort of trouble." Yugi stammered. Marik nodded and wiped his neck with a small towel. He had taken the tank top off so the upper half of his body was clear, revealing the large tattoo on his back. It was a cross like the millennium key that Shadi wore and at the top end was a picture or the Winged Dragon of Ra, to the right was a picture of Sliphur the Sky Dragon and to the left was a picture of Obelisk the Tormentor. Yugi had these cards in his deck now, making him almost invincible.

"Sorry if I concerned you, I always train before I sleep." Marik replied as he sat on the edge of the bed, his tanned skin looked soft in the light from the lamp on the bedside table. Yugi sat beside his new friend,

"What are you doing back here? Where are Odion and Ishizu?" he asked. Marik looked at the two swords that were on the bed beside him.

"Ishizu is living around here some where, she works in the Egyptian exhibition at the museum and Odion lives with her and works as an archaeologist. I can't go to them, I won't risk them getting hurt. I should leave here. If they come for me they will kill you to get to me." Marik replied as he looked at the swords with cold eyes, _I trained the Neo Ghouls; they can kill anyone!_ Marik thought bitterly as he remembered the days that he had tried to take over the world.

"Who's after you?" Yugi asked. Marik started, he had forgotten the Yugi was there for a moment.

"The Neo Ghouls. Their new leader sees me as a threat. They have hunted me for weeks." Marik replied, his shoulders slumping in exhaustion. Yugi put a hand reassuringly on Marik's shoulder,

"Don't worry, you'll be safe here." Yugi assured, smiling confidently. Marik smiled gratefully and yawned, he looked like he hadn't slept for days, "You should get some sleep, I'll see you tomorrow." Yugi called as he hopped off the bed and ran back into the living room. Marik got off the bed and rolled underneath it, he felt a lot safer under it than on top of it.


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey Tea!" Joey shouted as he ran to catch up with Tea. She stopped and waited for him. She was wearing a dark pink skirt and jacket with a dark blue bow around the neck of the white shirt. _Man the girl uniform looks bad._ Joey thought, as he often did. Tea had her dark blue backpack slung over one shoulder as she leaned on the wall.

"Hey Joey, where's Yugi?" she asked as he stopped beside her. Joey normally knocked for Yugi on the way to school and met her at the gates,

"He's taking care of stuff at the shop, said he'd catch up later. Where Bakura?" Joey asked. Tea normally knocked for Bakura on the way to school because he lived down the road from her.

"He'd already left when I got there." Tea shrugged, _I'll bet he went to walk the 'friend' of his to school._ She thought in amusement. They walked along until they got to Kaiba Corp and as they approached Kaiba walked quickly down the steps in his uniform, "Does he ever go home?" Tea wondered aloud as he got into the limo. Joey was going to reply when Kaiba caught sight of Tea and walked over, _what does he want with Tea?_ Joey wondered,

"I take it you got your message." Kaiba said coldly to Tea, not really caring whether she had or hadn't received it. She nodded and Kaiba walked slowly back to the limo, "Don't be late." He warned as he ducked inside and closed the door as Joey looked at Tea waiting for an explanation, but she seemed distracted. He touched her arm and she pulled away,

"What is it?" he asked as she rubbed her arm. She shook her head,

"It's nothing. I just walked into a cupboard." She laughed, _she's lyin'_ Joey knew, but he also knew she wouldn't tell him what was really wrong. It wasn't far to the gates,

"Tea!" a voice shouted and Joey turned to see a man running up to them, probably a couple of years older than they were. Tea stopped and turned, smiling at the man, though Joey was sure that he could see fear in her eyes.

"Derek!" she replied as he scooped her into his arms and swung her around, kissing her as he lowered her to the ground. Joey stood to the side, not knowing what he should do, "Oh, Derek. This is Joey." She introduced. Derek shook his hand with a firm grip, _I sure won't be messin' with this guy._ Joey decided, smiling kindly but wincing at the pain in his hand.

 

* * *

 

"Be careful up there Marik!" Grandpa shouted from the counter as Marik climber the ladder to the top shelf to put a box of cards up there, it was a large and heavy box, _No wonder the Pharaoh doesn't want Mr. Muto to carry them._ Marik thought, "I have to go up stairs for a while. Take care of the shop while I'm gone." Grandpa ordered. Marik nodded as he heaved the box up and slid it onto the shelf. Just as the inner door closed, signalling Grandpa's retreat, the outer door opened to signal a customer. Marik slipped on the ladder and the young girl grabbed the bottom to steady it,

 

"Thank you." Marik said as he climbed down and walked to the counter,

"You're welcome." Said a familiar voice. Marik looked at her for the first time and almost blushed,

"Serenity," He greeted. She smiled sweetly, her long light brown hair cascaded down her back, except two shorter bits near the front that framed her face and made her look even more innocent, her brown eyes looked at him kindly as she smiled. She was wearing blue jeans, white trainers, a white T-shirt and a pink body warmer.

"Marik, I wasn't expecting to see you again." She said as she leaned on the counter and looked at his eyes closely, he was wearing the same clothes that he had been wearing the day before; he had to go shopping later to get some more clothes. Grandpa heard Serenity's voice as he walked down the stairs and as he reached the door he opened it a crack and saw Marik at the counter talking to her. "I don't think I ever thanked you for saving me." she said shyly, Marik stood with his hands in his pockets and seemed to be trying not to look awkward.

"I didn't save you, did I?" he asked, _I don't remember saving her life at any point._ He thought as he looked back over time he had known her, which wasn't very long,

"Yes, you did! Remember at Kaiba's island when the duel tower was going to explode and the aircraft thing wouldn't start. Mai and I went to find you, Ishizu and Odion to get you out to the helicopter and as we ran through the corridor I slipped and twisted my ankle. You stopped to carry me out remember?" she prompted, Marik remembered now, he laughed softly,

"I didn't save you, I just carried you out." He corrected. Serenity shook her head in disagreement,

"No, you saved my life. I know it." She argued; _if I don't agree with her we'd be here all day._ Marik reasoned as Serenity walked around the counter to stand in front of him, looking up at him sweetly. She was a couple of years younger than him and she was a couple of feet shorter, but she was pretty. Marik backed into the counter as Serenity stepped closer, _too close._ She put her hands on his shoulders and he leaned back, knowing what effect this would have on Joey. Grandpa chuckled quietly as he went back up stairs.

"What if Joey sees?" Marik asked, trying to get out of reach. Serenity leaned on him so that their faces were only a few inches apart, her sweet honey smelling hair stroking his face, forcing an involuntary sigh from Marik.

"He's in school." She replied as she kissed Marik. Marik froze. This was the first time he had kissed a girl; he had never had the time for them before. As Serenity made the kiss deeper Marik felt himself kiss back and slowly raised his hands to her shoulders,

"Hey Marik!" Yugi called as he entered. Marik pulled away from Serenity and tried to make it look as innocent as possible as Yugi raised an eye brow and Marik did some quick thinking,

"I can't see anything, maybe it was just an irritation." Marik said quickly. Serenity caught on and started rubbing her eye,

"But I'm sure there is something in it, Yugi, could you take a look?" she asked as she rubbed her right eye. Yugi walked over and Serenity leaned down, he looked into her eye and shrugged,

"I can't see anything either, may be Marik's right." He shrugged as Marik went back to the shelves and repositioned the box he had been dealing with when Serenity came in.

"Have you seen Joey? I thought he'd be coming back here with you." Serenity said truthfully. Yugi and Serenity went upstairs to wait for Joey, who would be coming round with Tristan and Bakura to do some homework. Serenity had finished earlier than they had for the summer.

 

* * *

 

"Hello Yugi, oh, Serenity. Good to see you again." Grandpa greeted as the entered, pretending he hadn't seen her in the shop. Grandpa went down to find Marik; he should have finished with that box by now. When he reached the door he heard a lot of crashing going on and as he opened the door he saw three men in purple robes trying to drag Marik out of the shop, "What do you think you're doing?" he demanded as he opened the door and stepped into the shop. One of the men in purple held a gun at Grandpa while the other two held Marik, one of them held a knife across his throat,

 

"Get back Mr. Muto." Marik ordered as he looked over. Grandpa did as he was told and saw Joey, Tristan and Bakura approaching.

"Hey, what's goin' on?" Joey demanded as he approached the door, the two holding Marik were distracted and Marik used this chance to flip out of their grasp, knocking Joey to the ground as a bullet was fired. He heard the bullet hit a lamppost and Marik punched the guy with the gun, which went sliding across the floor to Bakura's feet. He picked it up and aimed it unevenly; **hold it still Bakura!** Ryou ordered; _I can't!_ Bakura replied. The Millennium ring glowed and Bakura changed, he still looked like Bakura, but older and his voice was harder and his manner was colder.

"Back off." Ryou ordered as one of the Neo Ghouls went to stab Marik in the back, while he was wrestling with another one as Joey punched the third, the one with the knife stepped away slowly. "Good, now go to your leader and tell him anyone that messes with Marik messes with Ryou Bakura. If I catch you at this again, I will send you to the Shadow Realm faster than you can say Destiny Board!" Ryou continued. The Neo Ghouls looked at Ryou coldly, but back off and ran into the night, the millennium ring glowed and Bakura returned to his body, holding the gun weakly at his side.

"Bakura, are you all right?" Tristan asked, Bakura looked a little shaky on his feet, but nodded as he tucked the gun inside his coat. _This may come in handy later._ He thought; **why do you need that when you have the millennium ring?** Ryou reasoned. Bakura ignored Ryou and kept the gun inside his coat.

"Marik, you okay?" Joey asked as he brushed himself off. Marik nodded, massaging his shoulder as they walked into the shop and up the stairs, they were safe for now.

 

* * *

 

"Marik, take this." Yugi ordered. It was later that night; Joey, Tristan, Bakura and Serenity were staying there in case the Neo ghouls were waiting for them. Yugi held up the millennium rod and offered it to Marik,

 

"I can not take this. I gave it to you." He replied as Yugi forced it into his hands,

"I know, but you need it now." Yugi argued, Marik took the rod and felt its power course through his body. It had once been his birthright to have this rod, _but that was a long time ago, the rod should go to Kaiba._ but since Kaiba didn't want the rod Marik decided he would keep it until Kaiba was ready to take it.

 

* * *

 

Kaiba waited for Tea to arrive for her interview, as much as he hated to admit it, Tea was one of the few who had made it to the interview stage, in fact there was only one other person he was considering for the job. There was a knock at the door and Tea entered, _is that a bruise on her cheek?_ He wondered as she sat down shyly.

 

"What happened to your," he began,

"I walked into a cupboard." She replied quickly. Kaiba didn't like being cut off in the middle of a sentence, but he let it go for now. They started the interview, she answered every question perfectly and knew how to deal with difficult situations, he didn't even need to tell her to shut up about the friendship stuff, _is she feeling okay?_ He wondered. Usually she gave him the big friendship talk, but she seemed quiet, subdued.

"You have the job." Kaiba decided, though he wasn't sure where that came from. He had been planning to think about it, but he had given the job to her straight away, _I'm going soft._ he decided. Tea left just as quietly as she had entered.

 

* * *

 

"I'm just saying be careful." Bakura replied as he walked though the park with Liviana. She was wearing a long yellow skirt and a red summer top and her long flowing hair had a red lily tied in it, it was the first time Bakura had seen her in her normal clothes. It was summer at last, no more school for six whole weeks.

 

"You're so sweet." She stated as they walked arm in arm through the park. Bakura wore blue jeans and a shirt with white trainers. Bakura felt himself blush, he had been called that before, but not by a girl he liked.

"Thanks, so are you." He replied, **good thinking, complement her again.** Ryou coached from the back of his mind. Bakura thought and looked into her captivating eyes,

"Your eyes are so beautiful!" he said quietly as he looked into her eyes, she blushed and looked away, **make a move!** Ryou ordered. Bakura put his hand on her chin and gently turned her head to face him, he then moved his hand to the side of her neck and pulled her face towards his, leaning down slightly to kiss her soft lips. She put her arms around his shoulders and kissed him back, **Bakura, behind you!** Ryou shouted. Bakura pushed Liviana down onto the grass, falling on top of her as a gun shot sounded. Ryou got off Liviana and pulled the gun from the belt of his trousers,

"I thought I warned you." He yelled at the now terrified Neo Ghoul that ran across the park to the gate and disappeared down the street before Ryou could follow him. "Shit!" Ryou exclaimed as he put the gun back in his belt and turned to Liviana, who was still sprawled on the ground where he had left her. Ryou held out a hand and pulled her up, she couldn't stop staring at him, "Are you all right?" Ryou asked in concern as she ran a hand across his face. She knew something wasn't right,

"Who are you?" she asked as she looked into his eyes. _Bakura doesn't look that…evil_ She thought as she looked at the terrifying figure before her, but he didn't seem evil to her.

"I am Ryou." He replied. She looked at him in confusion; Ryou was Bakura's first name. Before she could ask another question Bakura had returned and she was in his arms.

"Tell me what happened, who were you?" she asked, Bakura looked at her in surprise. Normally people couldn't tell when his Yami took over because Ryou tried to act like him while he was in his body.

"Have you ever heard of a Yami?" Bakura asked. Liviana nodded and Bakura went on to talk to her about his Yami and everything they had been through, everything he had been forced to go through. He took the millennium eye out of his trouser pocket and held it up; she knew about her brother's eye and stared at it in horror.

"You stole his eye?" she cried as she looked at it,

"No, I won it in a duel, a very unfair one if I do say so myself." Bakura replied as he handed her the eye. She looked at the eye and it began to glow, _what does that mean?_ Bakura wondered.

 

* * *

 

"You never have any time for me!" Mokuba cried as he ran out of the office in tears, almost knocking Tea over as he went. Kaiba appeared in the door to call him back, but Mokuba was already in the lift. Kaiba sighed and went back to his desk, Tea entered with a pile of papers and put them on the desk,

 

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked kindly, he shook his head coldly and pulled the papers towards him. Tea walked behind him and massaged his shoulders gently, "It might help." She insisted. Kaiba remained cold towards her and shrugged her away, reading the reports. Tea sighed and left the room, "He's right you know. You don't have time for him." Tea said as she left. Kaiba looked up and fixed her back with a cold stare, Tea turned and gave him an equally cold stare that made Kaiba freeze, "Don't give me that look, it won't solve the problem. It you weren't so cold hearted and selfish maybe you'd realize that some people are trying to help you!" she snapped as she stormed out and slammed the doors behind her, leaving Kaiba in a stunned silence. Suddenly his rage took over and he stormed out of the office and went to desk, she cowered as he stood over her and grabbed her arm,

"How dare you talk to me like! What's wrong?" he asked suddenly in concern as she cried out in pain, all thoughts of anger gone. She stood up and backed herself to the wall, holding her arm, terrified of him with tears streaming down her face like a cornered animal.

"Nothing." She insisted as he walked round to her, she backed away in fear, _I didn't think I was that imposing,_ Kaiba thought as her brown eyes glittered with tears of fear. Kaiba put a hand out to touch her and she pulled away,

"I'm not going to hurt you, just let me see." He ordered firmly. She slowly slid her black jacket off to reveal a long sleeved white shirt and beneath the shirt he could see black marks, he put his hand out and positioned his fingers above the bruises. A person had made these; he looked at her wrists and saw more marks there, only these ones looked like rope burns. "And you're saying I need to talk about my problems." He murmured as he looked at the marks. The lift opened and Tea heard the familiar sound of Derek's boots clicking on the tiled floor, Kaiba was still holding her arms gently as he looked at them.

"You slut!" he shouted as he launched himself at her, she screamed and sank to the floor, shielding herself from his punches. Kaiba stepped in front and gave Derek a right hook to the jaw,

"I will not have you treating my employees in this manner!" He stated, Tea moved forward and hit the panic button underneath her desk. Derek got to his feet and grabbed Kaiba by the front of his long, white, sleeveless trench coat,

"I'll sue you for this." He said as he pointed to his jaw and spat blood on the floor where Kaiba had punched so hard some of his teeth had come loose. Kaiba laughed and shook him off as three body guards entered,

"I own the police." Kaiba replied, the bodyguards stepped forward and took hold of Derek, "Now get out. You stay away from my office, and my employee! If I catch you near her again then I'll get the police to lock you up and throw away the key, you woman beating scum bag!" Kaiba replied coldly as he went back to Tea and pulled her gently to his feet. She leaned on him for support and shook in fear as Derek fixed her with a stare,

"I'll get you, you cheating bitch!" he shouted as the lift doors closed, Tea broke down and started crying uncontrollably. Kaiba lifted her up and carried her into his office sitting her on the sofa; _I'm no good at this talking stuff._ Kaiba thought as he sat with her silently as she stopped crying and looked at the wall in fear of what would happen later.

"So, do you want to talk about it?" Kaiba asked, this time it was her refusing to speak. Kaiba poured her a coffee and handed it to her, "It might help." Kaiba continued, using her own words against her. She smiled slightly and sat back, the bruise on her face was almost gone, but not completely. The burns on her wrists were fading slowly, but the bruises on her arms were fresh, "Why did he do it?" Kaiba asked, trying to get her to talk. _Though she's be better off talking to Yugi about this…_ He thought. She shrugged,

"It depends what he feels like. Sometimes it's because I hang around with the gang too much, at others it can be because he wants it and I'm not in the mood, not that I had much choice." She replied quietly, _by 'it' I take it she means sex._ Kaiba decided.

"What did he do?" Kaiba asked; _that's the dumbest question you have ever asked anyone!_ He decided, wishing he had kept his mouth shut.

"Beat me, tie me up while he raped me, pulling on the ropes roughly so that next time I wouldn't refuse. He suspected us of…you know, behind his back. That was the argument we had this morning as I left his house." she replied, Kaiba looked confused,

"Why were you at his house?" he asked. Tea laughed bitterly,

"I had a fall out with my mother and started living in the old hide out, it was the place where we used to go after school and do homework and stuff, any way I lived on my own there so when he pulled me into the car and forced me to go to his house I knew that no one would know I was missing. He only let me go this morning because I said that you would look for me if I didn't turn up." she replied, _what am I supposed to do?_ Kaiba wondered. "What was your argument with Mokuba about anyway?" Tea asked, trying to change the subject. Kaiba looked down, _I hate sharing my business._ Tea looked at him, _I wish he would let me in._ she thought as she looked at his troubled face.

"I promised Mokuba I would go out with him to town, but there's no way I can get out of here before six, and the shops close before then." He replied as he looked at the coffee table uncomfortably, Tea put one of her hands on his and he looked at her,

"Why don't I take Mokuba to town and then, when you finish here, you can call me and take Mokuba out for dinner." She suggested brightly. Kaiba thought for a moment, _it's a good idea._ he decided,

"All right, but be careful. Derek may still be out there." Kaiba warned, Tea nodded and went to the lift, _where would Mokuba go?_ She wondered as she stepped out of the building and looked around.

"Mokuba?" she called looking around. Then she saw him; he was sitting on the pavement by the wall to the right of the steps. Tea walked down and sat on the wall looking down at him, "Hey." She greeted kindly. Mokuba looked up at her, making a point to dry his eyes first and force a smile. He got up and hopped onto the wall beside her,

"I wish Seto had more time for me. I know he has to run the business, but is an hour or two too much to ask?" he sniffed. Tea put an arm around his shoulder and, unlike his brother, Mokuba didn't push her away. He didn't have a mother and it had been a long time since a woman had acted like a mother figure towards him, but Tea had been there for him before.

"Well, as a matter of fact Kaiba, has agreed that I can take you to town and then he'll take you for dinner after so where do you want to go?" Tea asked as she hopped off the wall. Mokuba got down smiled up a Tea; _He looks so sweet!_ She thought as he hopped up and down enthusiastically and pulled her towards the town,

"I wanna go to the arcade, the library, the Basement, the card shop," Mokuba listed as he dragged Tea along. Tea laughed and pulled back to slow him down,

"Okay, okay slow down!" Tea shouted as she staggered after him.

"Where now?" Tea asked. It was half past five and they were walking near Kaiba Corp again. Mokuba shrugged glumly, they had a whole half hour before Kaiba finished work. Tea knelt down to his level, "Hey, do you want to come to a very secret place that no one knows about except me and the gang?" Tea whispered conspiratorially, looking around to make sure no one was watching, mainly for the secretive effect.

"Yeah!" Mokuba replied enthusiastically. Tea stood up and took his hand, looking around as they walked into the alley on the right of Kaiba Corp. They walked down to a dead end and turned left into an abandoned warehouse. Tea stood at the secret entrance and turned to Mokuba.

"Now you have to do the secret promise. Hold up your right hand and repeat after me. I, Mokuba Kaiba, swear on pain of wedgy that I will never reveal the location of the door of the secret hide out, so help me God." Tea said, watching as Mokuba held up his hand and repeated Joey's words to her.


	3. Chapter 3

"Seto!" Mokuba shouted as they walked out of the alley and met Kaiba, who was waiting at the front of the building with his bulletproof silver brief case in his hand. The wind blew the white trench coat out behind him, the Kc radio logo clearly visible on the hard, up turned collar. Beneath the coat Tea knew he was wearing the usual black turtle neck jumper with navy blue belts on the sleeves, two on each sides and black slacks with black boots, which had belt like buckles that showed at the open front of the trench coat.

"Well, have a nice time." Tea said as Mokuba ran over to Kaiba, who was waiting impatiently. Mokuba turned back to Tea in surprise,

"Aren't you coming with us?" he asked eagerly, he liked Tea; she was like a mother and a big sister all in one. She laughed and shook her head,

"I wouldn't want to get in the way of your male bonding." She replied as Mokuba looked at her with his big brown puppy eyes, a look that could get any one to do anything for him. He turned back to Kaiba with the same look, Kaiba looked at him and them looked away coldly,

"Aw, come on Seto, it'll be even more fun with Tea there too. Please, pretty please." He begged as he took the trench coat and tugged on it, looking up with his puppy expression. Kaiba looked down at his brother and sighed in exasperation and defeat.

"Fine." He replied simply as he got inside the limo, Mokuba jumped up and down in excitement and went back to the alley entrance, dragging Tea to the limo.

"Come on, come on!" he urged as he hopped inside, still pulling Tea behind him. Tea sat down awkwardly and looked at the floor, Kaiba glanced at her and then went to looking out of the window. Mokuba waited impatiently for one of them to start a conversation, "Hey Seto, doesn't Tea look nice in that suit?" Mokuba asked, trying to get them to notice each other. Kaiba glanced at Tea and grunted, looking out of the window again. Mokuba sighed and leaned back, _how am I going to get them to like each other?_ He wondered.

"So Mokuba, how's school going?" Tea asked. Mokuba sighed; this was his least favourite topic of conversation. _Oh man, she had to ask that didn't she!_ Kaiba's interest also peaked at this question. He looked at Mokuba, waiting for an answer.

"Actually I haven't been going to school." He replied, trying not to look at Kaiba or Tea. He could tell that Kaiba was annoyed and disappointed to hear this, "It's not my fault! There's this teacher, Mr. Alder, he's really got it in for me." He argued. Kaiba made a mental note to see to it that this Mr. Alder was fired and replaced by someone else. Tea put a reassuring hand on Mokuba's shoulder,

"Listen Mokuba. All of your life you'll run into people like Mr. Alder. What you have to do is remember that you're better than them, and one day you'll prove it. If you keep up with your school work then you can do anything." She said, it wasn't a friendship speech, but it was just as soppy, it also had an effect on Mokuba. "What do you want to be?" Tea asked. Mokuba blushed a little and looked out of the window, Tea continued to prompt him until he answered.

"I want to be a pilot." He replied, Kaiba allowed himself an amused grin; Mokuba had been the same for years. _His head is stuck in the clouds and one day he wants to go and find it._ He thought to himself,

"Ok, that's good, but remember you can't get there without your school work, so if you tough it out and come out with great grades then you can be a pilot, not just any pilot, but a world famous one. You could own a whole fleet of planes." Tea encouraged, looking at him seriously and really making him think about it. His eyes glazed over for a minute while he thought about his fleet of planes in his very own airport.

"Really?" he asked, he didn't quite believe it. Tea laughed,

"Yes really, just ask Kaiba. He had to work for everything he has, didn't you Kaiba?" she asked, Kaiba nodded, not speaking to her directly. "See? If you have the same determination as your brother then you can do anything." She assured. Mokuba nodded, making a secret promise with Tea that he was going to get those planes and become Captain Kaiba. "It has a nice ring to it." Tea laughed as Mokuba began to pretend he was flying a plane. Kaiba sighed and went back to looking out of the window, he hated Tea and her pep talks, _please! Spare me the boredom!_ he thought dryly as the limo stopped. They were at an expensive restaurant that sat opposite a fast food place. Kaiba got out first and waited for Tea and Mokuba to follow. "Where to now?" asked Tea. Kaiba indicated the expensive place. Mokuba put on a sulky face and crossed his arms; Kaiba rolled his eyes, _what now?_ he wondered.

"Can't we go to the burger bar?" Mokuba begged; puppy eyes back again. Kaiba sighed and crossed the road with Tea and his brother to go to the burger bar. Tea went to the table and let Kaiba and Mokuba sit down, she then went and ordered the food.

"Tea!" shouted a voice as she sat at the table with Kaiba and Mokuba. Mai walked in, making Tea jump to her feet and hug her,

"My God, what are you doing here. I didn't expect to see you until the next tournament." Tea greeted as they sat down, Mai next to Kaiba and Tea next to Mokuba. Kaiba looked at Mai coldly and then out of the window, while Mokuba leaned forward to join in the conversation.

"Hey, you know me Tea, full of surprises." She replied as she winked mischievously. She had long blonde hair like Joey's that went to her waist and she wore black boots, jeans and jacket with a white corset top that forced her breasts up. On her hands she wore black gloves with no fingers, she still wore her duel disc on her arm with her deck loaded and ready for a challenge. "So, you finally found Kaiba's soft side. I knew he had one some where." Mai joked as she leaned back and crossed her legs. Mokuba let out a giggle, getting a cold look from Kaiba and a wink from Mai. Tea laughed and shook her head,

"Actually I'm here with Mokuba." Tea replied, Mai burst out laughing, getting the wrong idea completely, "No, not like that." Tea corrected, Mokuba laughed with Mai and went to eating his cheeseburger, tired of the conversation. Mai looked at her black watch,

"Well, would you look at the time. I gotta run, you wouldn't happen to know where Joey is would you?" she asked as she got gracefully to her feet, pulling her car keys out of her pocket.

"I think he's at Yugi's place, that's where he usually is." Tea replied, Mai hugged her and ran out of the door, climbing into her little green convertible and driving off down the road. Tea turned her attention back to Mokuba and Kaiba,

"Hey Seto, can I put some music on?" Mokuba asked as he pointed at the old jukebox. Kaiba sighed and pulled a few coins out of his pocket, giving them to Mokuba as Tea stood up to let him out. Mokuba dragged her with him and got her to help him get the right songs. Tea sat down as Mokuba danced.

"He has a lot of energy for a kid." Tea commented as he hopped around, they were almost the only people in there, not that Mokuba cared much. Kaiba watched his brother in amusement; he couldn't dance and didn't really want to try.

"Hey you guys, come on!" Mokuba shouted as he hopped back to the table and pulled on Tea's arm. Tea was on her feet, watching in amusement as Mokuba tried to pull Kaiba onto the floor. Tea pulled Mokuba back and slid in next to Kaiba,

"You're not ticklish are you?" Tea asked innocently, Kaiba shifted away and looked at her coldly.

"If you try to find out I'll fire you." He threatened, Tea took on a triumphant look and put her hands on his stomach,

"I'll take that risk, Mokuba get him!" Tea ordered as she tickled Kaiba's stomach, leaving his under arms to Mokuba, who was kneeling on the bench behind him. Started laughed and struggling to get away, leaning on top of Tea so that their faces were only inches apart. Tea stopped and they slid apart, both slightly red in the face, "So, are you going to dance?" she asked. Kaiba got reluctantly to his feet and stood at the edge of the floor as Tea danced with Mokuba, _what happened? I almost kissed her, why? She's annoying and full of bullshit!_ Kaiba thought. Tea looked over and gestured for him to join them, he shook his head and she took his hand.

 

* * *

 

"Seth, please don't do this." Tea begged, it was ancient Egypt and Kaiba could see Seth, who looked like him and was, _if you listen to Ishizu's bullshit,_ Kaiba in a previous life. Seth wore a priests out fit, a long white wrap, which was a long piece of material wrapped round his waist like a skirt, with a long robe or cloak, Tea was wearing a long, sexy looking white dress made of a thin net material and she wore a thin golden hoop on her head with the millennium necklace and around her eyes was a white piece of cloth.

 

"I will have my revenge against the Pharaoh!" Seth declared as he held the millennium rod to the sky, looking at Tea coldly, Tea cried and turned away from him,

"Please, I beg you, don't do it." She begged as she turned back, Seth looked at her even more icily, he approached her and towered above her,

"Why do you care?" he demanded. Tea looked away and walked out of the alley, when she was near the end she turned back.

"Because I love you." She replied before walking off, leaving a very confused Seth in the alley.

 

* * *

 

Kaiba looked at Tea, it had only been an instant, but she was looking at him strangely, _has she seen it too?_ she released his hand and looked at Mokuba, who was bouncing around still,

 

"I think we should go." Kaiba said to Mokuba. Mokuba groaned, but agreed; he was tired. They walk out to the limo and got inside, once at Kaiba Corp Tea got out, Mokuba had fallen asleep so it was Kaiba who got out to say good night.

"Thanks, it was fun." She said as he got out, he nodded and she turned to go, feeling his hand on her wrist,

"Wait, did you see it?" he asked. She turned back nodding. This was the first time Kaiba had had a vision and someone else had seen it too. "Oh, well…Good night." Kaiba said awkwardly. Tea nodded and walked into the alley, _where is she going?_ Kaiba wondered as he watched her go. He shrugged and got back inside the limo, something was going on, and he didn't like it one bit.

 

* * *

 

Marik put some more cards under the counter, it was almost closing time again, he had been here for over a month now, seeing his sister on his day off and helping Yugi and Mr. Muto with the cleaning sometimes. Serenity had only left a few moments ago and Marik was dressed and ready for a little Neo Ghoul hunting, _no one tries to kill me and gets away with it!_ Marik thought in anger, the millennium rod now securely at his side. No one could defy him now.

 

"Ahh!" Serenity screamed from the alley, Marik heard it and he was still inside the shop, locking up. _What is she doing out alone?_ He wondered as he pulled his cloak on, grabbed his swords and ran out of the door, the millennium rod in his belt where he always used to keep it. "Help some one please!" Serenity cried as the Neo ghouls approached, the three of them laughed cruelly as they got closer to the back of the alley. She cowered by the wall as they closed in on her. Marik had climbed up the drainpipe on the side of the building on the right of the alley and was now on the roof, he drew his swords and jumped. He landed in a crouch in front of Serenity, his cloak hood pulled up to cover his face.

"Kill him." The leader of the three ordered as they changed their attention to Marik. Marik flipped over them and started a merciless onslaught with his swords, as he swung them around the Neo Ghouls couldn't keep up with the speed and were quickly over powered, Marik stabbed one through the chest and let him slump to the floor, holding the bloody sword at the other two,

"If I catch you near her or any of her friends again then I'll be back to do the same to you." Marik warned in a deep, unrecognisable voice. The two remaining Ghouls nodded and ran out of the alley in terror. Marik went to Serenity and helped her up, not letting her see his face, only his eyes. "Are you all right?" he asked as she leaned on the alley wall. She nodded and looked into his eyes, she raised a hand to the cloak that covered his face, but felt Marik's hand on top of hers, pulling it back before he leaned in and kissed her passionately. "I must go." Marik said and with that he ran from the alley, leaving Serenity behind, confused and alone. _I'm not going to stand here all night; I'm going back to the shop._ She decided as she walked out of the alley.

 

* * *

 

When she got there the door was open and as she went up the stairs there was blood on them, _oh no, please God no!_ She thought as she ran up the stairs, but when she got there she saw that the place was empty, Yugi was staying at Joey's tonight she knew, but Grandpa was no where in sight, and Marik wasn't there either. She looked at the floor and saw the trail of blood leading to Marik's room, she tip toed over and looked inside through the crack in the door, he was standing there with the cloak on and was wiping blood off the small swords he had used in the alley.

 

"Marik?" Serenity said as she pushed the door open. Marik turned and hid his swords behind his back, _how much did she see?_ He wondered as she came towards him, "It's alright, I know it was you in the alley." She said, Marik looked surprised as Serenity came closer and slid his bloody cloak off, showing him the trail of blood, which he hadn't realised he had been leaving behind.

"Ah." Marik murmured as he saw the blood trail, _Mr. Muto is going to kill me._ He thought. Marik walked to the kitchen to find something to clean the blood up with; _there must be something in this cupboard!_ Marik thought in frustration as he looked through the cupboard under the sink where Grandpa kept all of the cleaning equipment. Marik found some carpet cleaner and took a cloth to clean the blood from the stairs, Serenity got a cloth and offered to help, they sat on the stairs and scrubbed the blood stains away, moving closer to the bed room.

"I'll put this in the washer." Serenity stated as she picked up the cloak, which had been left on the floor in a heap.

"Thanks." Marik replied as he walked into the kitchen and put the cloak in the washer, she then walked back into the room just as Marik changed his trousers, she blushed and turned her back as she caught sight of his white boxers, "Sorry, I should have warned you." He apologised awkwardly, he had pulled on some pastel blue pyjama bottoms and was slipping a matching top over his shoulders when Serenity closed the door and stepped towards him, placing her hands on his shoulders, slowly sliding the shirt off and moving her face closer to his until their lips met. Marik raised his hands to her shoulders and pushed her back a little, "We, can't do this, what about Joey?" he asked, Serenity pushed him back to the bed and forced him down onto his back, straddling him, leaning over him, their lips almost touching,

"I don't care about what Joey thinks." Serenity replied before kissing him again, this time Marik gave in and pulled her down to him, his arms locked around her as he groin tightened. He felt for the edge of Serenity's body warmer and slid it off, then moving his hands to the yellow T-shirt she was wearing, pulling it up and over her head leaving her wearing only her white bra over her top half. He felt her stiffen as he reached for the straps of her bra to unclip it and when it loosened she instinctively rose her arms to cover her breasts, but Marik rolled over so that she was on her back,

"No, don't do that." He sighed as he took her hands and gently pinned them to the bed, kissing her jaw line, slowly working his way down to her small breasts. He fondled one gently with his hand while he kissed the other gently, hearing Serenity sigh and moan slightly. He moved his hands lower and unbuttoned her jeans, pulling them down her legs until she kicked them off. He slowly pulled her white knickers down her soft legs before touching her between her legs gently, seeing a glimmer of fear in her eyes. He continued to massage her gently as he leaned down to kiss her mouth, "Don't be afraid, I'll be gentle. I promise." He replied as she moaned and blushed. He moved his fingers through the curling hair between her legs to the warm moist cleft. He felt Serenity's hands pulling at his belt and felt his trousers loosen. He quickly removed them and positioned himself between her legs, "Are you sure?" he asked as he kissed her neck, feeling her head nod in response. He moved forward slowly, feeling himself enter her, her cleft tightening around his member.

"Ah!" Serenity cried as he edged himself further into her. He took her hand and linked their fingers, kissing her neck and hushing her gently,

"I'm sorry, I didn't want to hurt you, I tried to go slowly." He apologised.

"I'm fine." She whispered in reply. Marik kissed her lips as he began a slow, rhythmic movement back and forth, feeling a deep pleasure building within him as Serenity moaned in ecstasy, wrapping her legs round his waist to allow him to push further. He felt his body shaking with need as he sped up his thrusts and Serenity cried out as she climaxed, her cleft tightening around his member, but her legs remained wrapped firmly round his waist. He felt his pleasure reach its height and felt himself discharge inside her. He pulled his member out of her body before collapsing on top of her, his head leaning beside hers, his chest resting on hers and her arms wrapped gently round his neck.

 

* * *

 

"Bakura, where are we going?" Liviana asked as Bakura led her, with his hands over her eyes, to the dining room of his large house, his father was away in Egypt still and his mother had died when he was a child so he had the house to himself.

 

"Just keep walking." Bakura said as he walked her to the large, round table with its white tablecloth and silver candelabra with three lit candles. There were two places set with wine glasses, though they would be drinking cola rather than wine, they weren't old enough and neither of them liked it, Bakura had checked before he invited her over. "Step left…a little more…ok, sit down." Bakura guided as he sat her in a chair. Liviana sat nervously in a pretty light blue dress, which matched the suit that Ryou had picked out for Bakura. "Keep them closed!" Bakura ordered as he removed his hands and went and turned the lights off, hearing a surprised yelp from Liviana at the table. Bakura smiled and turned some quiet music on, he looked at his watch and went back to the table; the food wouldn't be ready for twenty minutes. "Alright. Open your eyes." Bakura ordered, Liviana blinked in the darkness as Bakura went and poured her a glass of coke, she looked around and laughed,

"Oh, Bakura you didn't have to go to all this trouble." She laughed as she blushed. Bakura smiled as he filled his own glass and sat at the table opposite her, there was a third chair at the table where Ryou was sitting, he could make himself seen, but only by Bakura.

"Well, I can't take all the credit, Ryou did a lot of the arranging and chose the clothes." Bakura replied as he sipped his drink, even though he had known Liviana for a few weeks he was very nervous. Liviana looked at Ryou, she looked at him. Bakura looked at Ryou and then back at Liviana. _Ryou, take a walk around the room._ Bakura thought. Ryou looked at him and got up, and as he walked around the room Liviana's eyes followed his every move, **She can see me?** Ryou thought in shock,

"Apparently so." Bakura replied out loud, there was no need to talk through their minds if Liviana could see him. Ryou sat down and looked at Liviana, she was very beautiful and he admitted that Bakura was a lucky man, though he also knew that he could take over and be her boyfriend himself if he wanted to.

"So, you were a tomb thief, am I right?" Liviana asked seductively, _he is so handsome_ she thought to herself, ay which Ryou nodded as he crossed his legs,

"A living legend, well, not really living, but a legend." He replied proudly as Bakura laughed under his breath, Ryou could be so full of himself sometimes,

"Bakura, do you ever duel yourself, or is it always Ryou?" she asked sweetly. Bakura wasn't sure about the answer to that question, he had duelled in the past, but it was normally Ryou who took over and did the tournaments, Bakura was too nervous to stand up in front of all those people.

"Well, I suppose it's all Ryou really." He replied, Ryou held a hand up in objection,

"It isn't always me, remember our first tournament? We were duelling a guy named Bonz and he laid that trap card? If you hadn't come up with the idea of combining it with one of our monsters we would have lost." Ryou replied, Bakura went red and held up his hand,

"Nonsense, it's all you and you know it." He insisted, Ryou looked at Liviana in a way that said 'I'm right, he's just being stupid.' Liviana continued to shift her conversation between the two; she was good at splitting her attention between two people. "I'll go and get the food, Ryou would you mind coming too?" Bakura asked, Ryou shrugged in confusion and followed Bakura into the kitchen, once there he hopped onto the counter and watched as Bakura took the food out of the oven, lasagne by the look of it.

"What's up old chum?" he asked as Bakura cut the lasagne up and put it on their plates, he looked over at Ryou,

"I was wondering if you wanted to take over for a while, she seems to like you." Bakura said, Ryou got down from the counter and stood beside Bakura,

"She like you and came to be here with you." He said firmly, Bakura shook his head.

"She didn't, I can see it on her face, she likes you Ryou. Take over, I don't mind, honestly." Bakura lied, Ryou took over, but insisted that Bakura would sit at the table with them, Ryou like Liviana and if this were his body then maybe he would go out with her, but he didn't want to fall out with Bakura, he had been his only friend at one point.

"Oh, you've switched." Liviana said in surprise as Ryou carried the plates in and sat opposite her while Bakura sat in the third chair. Liviana switched her attention to Bakura,

"What is it?" she asked, Bakura smiled and shook his head,

"Nothing, I just thought you two might like to get better acquainted." He replied as she started eating, her delicate hands being so careful with the knife and fork. Ryou tried to eat like a gentleman, but being a grave robber five thousand years ago and a Yami since then wasn't really making it easy. It was like asking a drunk to walk in a straight line,

"Sorry, I'm not used to this." He apologised as Liviana looked at him in shock, she laughed and waved it aside, Bakura looked at him in amusement as he struggled with he knife and fork, "Are you sure you don't want to do this?" he begged, Bakura laughed and took over his body again, swapping places with Ryou and eating the food. Ryou was jealous of Bakura for his charm and gentlemanly manner, it was something that Ryou himself had never developed, though he had adapted to the English accent of Bakura so when he took over he seemed to be Bakura rather than himself.

"You know I can see the bond between you two, it's kind of like a brotherly bond." She observed; Bakura looked at Ryou, she was right when she said Ryou was like his brother. When his father had come back from Egypt with the millennium ring he had never dreamed that he would get a life long friend out of it. Ryou had scared Bakura at first; he thought he was going mad as this voice spoke to him. Sometimes Ryou would take over and do terrible things, but only if it was really called for, there had been one time that Bakura was being beaten by a bully. Ryou took over and slammed the guy's head against the wall and he backed off. After that Bakura had decided that Ryou was a friend, though when he tried to take over the world by using his body against his will Bakura had not been impressed and had been given the choice at the end of it to let Yugi lock the ring away forever or to take it back and risk being manipulated again, Bakura chose the latter. _And I'm glad I did._ Bakura thought as he came out of his memories. Ryou was looking at Bakura, reading his memory and he looked back, Bakura smiled and Ryou smiled back; **yeah, he is my brother.** Ryou decided. Bakura heard this and pretended he hadn't, he didn't like to read Ryou's thoughts without him knowing. "So, how did you get the ring?" Liviana asked as she pushed her plate away and sat back, Bakura drank from his glass before replying.

"Well, it was a long time ago, before we moved here. We lived in England and it had been a year since my mother had died from Pneumonia, she had always had a bad heart, and my father made documentaries for a living, as well as being an archaeologist. He found the ring in a Pharaoh's tomb and, after he had done some research, he found that it belonged to a famous Tomb thief, Ryou Bakuda, well he thought it was such a coincidence that he bought it for me, it cost him a fortune and the museum was not happy, but there wasn't a lot he could do because he bought it from the Egyptians and it belonged to them. My father has friends in high places you see. Anyway, once I put it on Ryou made himself known to me, I must admit I thought I was going mad at first." Bakura explained as he looked at Ryou, who also remembered those few weeks; he had followed Bakura around trying to convince him that he wasn't mad.

"Yes, I also remember you were too much of a wimp to take care of that big fellow from the play ground, what was his name? Bruce?" Ryou asked as he looked at Bakura, who nodded and looked at his hand, remembering. "I remember I slammed Charlie's head into the wall one week and his older brother came after you and I refused to take over, I stood there yelling at you 'go on Bakura, he's nothing but a wimp,' and at the time he had you pinned to the wall and you shouted back 'wimp? Are you telling me a wimp has a grip like this? If this is you idea of a wimp I don't want to meet your idea of a bully.' Well, after that the guy dropped Bakura to the floor and looked at him like he was infectious or something because Bakura hadn't realised he was talking aloud. I gave him a shove and told him to punch Bruce and he did it, I have never seen anyone hit so hard. You don't do things by halves do you?" Ryou joked, Bakura laughed too, a few weeks later he had moved to Japan and met Tea and Yugi. Joey and Tristan had tried to pick on him once, but had received a fist to the jaw and backed off, it was the same with any other bullies, word soon got round about the new kid with the hard hit.

"I don't believe anyone who looks so innocent could be anything but the perfect gentleman." Liviana objected as she looked at Bakura sweetly, Ryou sat back and put his crossed legs on the table,

"Oh, come on sweetheart, you must have heard the saying 'looks can be deceiving.'" He replied. Bakura laughed and got to his feet, going around to Liviana,

"Would you like to dance? I'm not very good, but I know a few steps." He offered as he held out a hand. Liviana took his hand and got to her feet, it was a slow song so Liviana put her arms loosely around Bakura's shoulders and he rested his hands on her hips as they swayed gently, Ryou turned and straddled his chair and watched them, thinking about how cute they looked together.


	4. Chapter 4

"Hey Tea!" Mokuba said as he ran into his brother's office. Tea was on her way out of the door, having just delivered some papers to Kaiba, who was at his desk bent over them, working.

"Hey Mokuba, I think your brother's a little busy, we've had a lot of work on today." She replied as he stopped in the doorway. Mokuba sighed and looked disappointed, as he always did at times like this, but Tea knew how to cheer him up. She crouched down to his level and whispered conspiringly.

"How about we sneak out of here in a few minutes and get pizza in the hide out?" he whispered, Mokuba nodded, the bright smile back on his face and went bounding into the office to see Kaiba.

"Hey, Seto. Can we go out today?" he asked pleadingly. Kaiba looked up for half a moment to give an apologetic look, "Oh, okay. Can we go to the burger bar again tonight?" he asked instead. Kaiba nodded, still looking at the report and Mokuba knew that he probably hadn't heard, so he wrote a note and left it on the desk. When he got back out side he saw Tea writing too, "Are we going yet?" he asked impatiently, at which Tea nodded the way Kaiba did when he wasn't listening, but Tea always listened. She stacked some papers and put them in the draw of her desk, locking it with a key before getting up and going to Kaiba's office to tell him she was leaving. He didn't even hear her as she spoke and left, he sat and read the reports, too tired to think.

"Coffee." He muttered as he got up and went to the kettle, which was full of coffee. He tipped himself a cup and went back to the desk, reading the reports like newspapers as he drank. As he sat he felt himself drift into sleep.

 

* * *

 

"Now Pharaoh, step down or I'll kill your friend." Seth ordered coldly as two of his men dragged a tortured and beaten Joey into the room. He wore nothing but a white wrap, which was splattered with blood and dirt from the dungeon.

 

"Joni!" Yami shouted, rising from the throne. He didn't show much emotion, but it was obvious that Seth had given him a difficult choice, a slight sneer was on his face and if looks could kill then Seth would have fallen into a deep grave.

"Stop!" Tea's voice shouted from somewhere behind the throne. She stepped forward, her eyes still covered by the cloth, the millennium necklace covered by her simple white dress. Seth glared at her as she stood before him, "Take me instead." She begged as she looked pitifully at Joni and bowed to Seth, who laughed out loud and stepped back. Yami walked to Tea and pulled her back by the arm,

"Telar, you are out of order!" he declared as he looked at her harshly. She smiled and put a hand on his face before walking past him, going right up to Seth, who was still laughing. When she was close enough Seth pushed her back to the floor and Yami went to help her to her feet.

"Why would I want a blind servant girl when I have the Captain of the guards?" he demanded, at this Telar smiled in amusement.

"You think that that is all I am? A servant girl? No Seth. I am much more than that. I can throw this dagger at the column, hitting the grain." She declared. Seth looked at the wooden column, it was fifteen centimetres thick and had a long, thin, black line in the centre, and Seth looked back to Telar and laughed again. "If I hit the grain you will take me instead?" she asked. Seth thought for a moment and nodded. Telar smiled slightly and turned her back on Seth, walking a few paces before flipping the dagger out of her belt and into her hand. She then turned and threw the dagger; it went through the air, slashing Seth's shoulder on the way past and hit the wooden column. Seth grunted in pain as the blade sliced his flesh and then went to the wood and saw that the dagger was embedded firmly in the grain. Seth was over come with anger as he turned back to Telar, who merely looked at him, though her eyes were covered, she was looking at him. _How did she do that?_ Kaiba wondered as he watched the scene progress from the corner of the room.

"You blind hag!" Seth shouted as he rushed forward, his hand raised and ready to strike Telar down. Yami stood between them, ready to defend his friend and Seth stopped.

"You will take me now. You gave me your word, and since I caught your shoulder I know you will take me without question. You will want revenge." She stated, putting a hand on Yami's shoulder and moving him to the side, stepping up to Seth bravely. _I have to admit, the girls has spirit._ Kaiba mused, Seth nodded to his men and Joni was released, falling weakly to the floor. Seth took hold of Telar's arm roughly and pulled round so that she had her back to him and was facing Yami, who was helping Joni to his throne.

"Well Pharaoh. What will it be? Do you trade places with Telar or do I take her?" he demanded. Yami looked at Telar, who nodded in understanding, smiling at Yami.

"I can not trade with her, therefore do with her what you will." Yami replied emotionlessly. Seth smirked and walked out of the throne room, dragging Telar roughly along side him. They were soon out of the palace and were walking to the temple where Seth lived. Once inside Seth threw Telar to the floor and locked the doors, there was a large open floor where people knelt and prayed and there was an alter at the front with torches lining the walls but apart from that the room was empty, there were no chairs or tables or any other decoration and there were only two doors, one that they had just come through and one that led to Seth's domain. His bedroom, his torture chambers and his dungeons. Kaiba had followed and now stood at the alter to watch.

"You will regret your decision by the end of this. I have tortures beyond your imagination here, I can send you to the shadow realm." Seth threatened as he raised the millennium rod, Telar got boldly to her feet and pulled the millennium necklace out of the dress so that it rested on her chest,

"You can try, but the millennium necklace prevents you from sending me to the shadows unless I wish it." She replied calmly, Seth swung the back of his hand and hit Telar across the face, sending her sprawling to the floor.

"Believe me, by the time I have finished with you, you will beg me to send you to the shadow realm Telar!" he spat venomously as he stood towering over her small form. Telar showed no emotion on her face but stayed where she had landed on the ground. Seth stood over her until he lost his patience with her silence and pulled her to her feet. He dragged her through the door and took her to the dungeon, pushing her into a room, "Change into that dress before I get back." He ordered coldly as he pointed to a folded, white dress, and before Telar could utter a single word he was gone, locking the door behind him as he went. Kaiba decided to follow Seth and see what he was doing in this time.

Seth walked to his room and changed his clothes, wrapping a piece of black cloth around the cut from the knife. He then went to the torture chamber and walked around looking at all of his creations, t _his is sick!_ Kaiba thought as he looked at the different blood stained objects, he didn't want to imagine what was going to happen to Telar in here. There were two men in here, one looked a lot like Marik while the other resembled Bakura, Seth barely noticed them as he walked by.

 

* * *

 

"Hey Tea, are ya in there?" Joey asked as he waved a hand in front of her eyes, Tea seemed to snap back into herself about the same time as Yugi, they had both gone into a day dream. Mai sat on the sofa with Mokuba in front of the fire, they were too busy eating pizza and talking to notice that Tea and Yugi had been day dreaming again.

 

"Sorry Joey, I was years away." Tea joked as she turned her attention to Joey, Joey offered her some pizza, which she took, and then went back to Mai. Yugi turned to Tea,

"Did you see it too?" he asked quietly, not wanting to disturb the others. Tea nodded, Yugi took something from his bag and gave it to her, when she opened her hand she was the millennium necklace in her palm.

"Yugi, I can't take this." She replied as she handed it back, Yami took over Yugi's body and put his hand over hers, Yami was an older version of Yugi with sharper eyes and a deeper voice, making him seem less innocent than Yugi.

"Tea, you saw it yourself, the millennium necklace belongs to you. Only you can control this power." He assured as he closed her hand around the necklace. She looked at the golden eye on it's golden rope like chain, she put the necklace on and clipped it up at the back of her neck,

"Thanks Yugi." She replied as she held a hand over the necklace, already feeling the old, familiar powers flowing through her body. Yami had gone and Yugi was back in control as he smiled back at her and took a chunk out of his pizza slice.

"Hey Tea, when are we meeting Seto?" Mokuba asked as she and Yugi approached from the bed and sat in the two armchairs around the fire.

 

* * *

 

"Where have you been?" Kaiba asked as, once again, he saw Tea and Mokuba exiting the alley. Mokuba and Tea looked at each other knowingly and then looked at Kaiba innocently,

 

"We'd tell you, but then we'd have to kill you." Mokuba joked, Kaiba raised an eyebrow as he opened the limo door and put his brief case in,

"What ever, are you coming or not?" he demanded coldly, Mokuba hopped in the limo and Tea waved good bye, turning her back to walk into the alley, "Are you coming or what?" Kaiba demanded. Tea turned to see him waiting impatiently for her at the door of the limo, she turned back and raised a confused eyebrow,

"Sure." She replied as she climbed into the limo, _why did I do that?_ Kaiba wondered, Kaiba sat down and looked at Mokuba and Tea, noticing that they were wearing exactly the same clothes as last time they had met like this, _then again Mokuba and I are always dressed like this._ Kaiba mused, he had a whole wardrobe full of the same black turtlenecks and black slacks; he even had a few more navy blue belts.

"So, have you thought about what I said?" Tea asked. Mokuba nodded and pulled a class test out of his pocket, handing it to Tea, it was a science test and he got an A+. Tea handed the paper to Kaiba and looked at Mokuba approvingly,

"I'm going to be the best pilot in the world!" Mokuba bragged happily, Tea laughed and put her arm around his small shoulders,

"At this rate you're also going to be the shortest." She teased, Mokuba laughed and started play fighting with Tea, ignoring Kaiba's disapproving looks, until they arrived at the same spot as last time,

"Burger bar!" Mokuba stated as he pulled Kaiba towards the road. Kaiba sighed deeply and allowed Mokuba to half drag him across the road. As Tea brought the food over he caught sight of the millennium necklace and looked at her sharply. She looked back and their eyes met, they then knew that they had both seen the vision again. Tea gave Mokuba some money for the jukebox and went to sit beside Kaiba.

"So, you saw it too." Tea stated, it was then that Kaiba realised how muck like Telar that Tea was, she had that mysterious heir and the annoying way of telling you what you have seen or done rather than asking. Kaiba nodded, "What do you think it means?" Tea asked. Kaiba sneered, refusing to believe a word of what Ishizu had said about his past. Tea drew back in fear, she didn't know why, but the look he gave her struck fear into her, then she remembered she had seen it before on Seth's face as he threw Telar to the ground and glared down at her. Kaiba noticed her fearful look and changed his expression to a mild sneer.

"It means nothing, all it means is that we have both had synchronised dreams." Kaiba replied coldly, doubt obvious in his voice. Tea let the matter drop, there was no use in talking to Kaiba until he had accepted their past.

 

* * *

 

"Thanks Kaiba. See ya Mokuba." Tea called as she walked into the alley. Kaiba walked up the stairs and went to unlock the door of Kaiba Corp when he heard a scream in the alley; it was Tea. Mokuba began to get out of the limo as Kaiba reached the bottom of the steps,

 

"Stay there!" he shouted as he grabbed his duel disc, his deck already loaded and ready to go, and ran into the alley. When he got to the back of the alley he saw Derek and some of his friends, there were five in all, and Derek had Tea pinned to the wall. Kaiba got there just as Derek threw a punch at Tea; he reached out and grabbed the wrist before it reached its target. "Leave her alone!" Kaiba ordered as he stepped in front of Tea, Derek laughed and looked at Kaiba. "Enough of this, I'll duel you, and when I win you will leave Tea alone." Kaiba stated. Derek nodded and activated his disc,

"If I win I'll make you watch as I rape and kill her, then I'll kill you too." Derek replied maliciously. Kaiba smirked as he activated his disc,

"No chance. It's time to duel." He stated. Kaiba drew his hand and looked through his cards, it was a good hand. He had his crush card trap, his Vampire Lord, his Lord of Dragons, his Pot of Greed and his Polymerisation card. "First I'll play Pot of Greed." He stated, drawing two cards from his deck. _Perfect! Now I have Monster Reborn and one of my Blue-eyes White Dragons!_ he thought as he looked at his hand.

"What? Your hand can't be that bad." Derek laughed, little did he know what Kaiba was planning. Tea looked at him faithfully, she knew how good he was at this game.

"Next I'll place one card face down and summon Lord of Dragons to the field in defence mode." Kaiba continued as he placed the cards on the disc, and watched them appear as life-sized holograms in front of him. Kaiba ended his turn and waited as Derek made his move, summoning Dunames the Dark Witch and attacking his Lord of Dragons, "You just fell right into my trap. I activate my Crush card, meaning that all of your monsters with an attack of 1500 or more get a one-way ticket to the graveyard! This virus starts on the field then spreads to your hand and your deck." Kaiba smirked as Derek cried out in frustration and horror as his deck went down to the weak monsters. Dunames disappeared without being able to attack Kaiba's monster and because he couldn't summon another monster that turn, Derek ended his turn with no defence. Kaiba drew a new card, it was Dragon Summoning Flute 2, and this meant that if he could get one of his Blue-eyes on the field then he could use this magic card to summon any other blue eyes to the field from his deck. "I end my turn." Kaiba said straight away.

This time Derek played a magic card, forcing him to discard one monster card from his hand to the graveyard and Kaiba tried not to smile as he put his Blue-eyes into his graveyard. Derek then played the Mystical Elf in defence mode, placed one card face down and ended his turn.

"I play monster reborn to bring back the monster you so kindly helped me to put in the graveyard. I summon the Blue eyes White Dragon! Next I'll switch my Lord of Dragons into attack mode." Kaiba shouted as he played the card, on the field a hologram of the huge dragon appeared beside the Lord of Dragons, who stood up as the dragon appeared. Derek cowered as the dragon glared at him. "Then I'll play Dragon summoning Flute 2 and summon my other two Blue eyes straight from the deck and I'll use Polymerisation to fuse them together to form the Blue-eyes Ultimate Dragon. Now, Blue-eyes! Attack his Mystical Elf!" Kaiba yelled at the three-headed dragon. The dragon attacked, but Derek called out to stop the attack, activating a card.

"I activate Magical cylinders to reflect your attack back to your dragon!" Derek shouted in triumph, but Kaiba merely smirked as the Mystical Elf shattered into a million shards and the Magical cylinders went the same way. Derek uncovered his eyes; he had covered then during the attack, and looked at he field in disbelief.

"If you were any kind of duellist you would know the when Lord of Dragons is on the field you can not attack any dragon type monsters with magic cards, trap cards or effect monsters. Now Lord of Dragons, attack his life points directly." Kaiba ordered; Derek's life points went down from 4000 to 3300 as the Lord of Dragons dived forward and swung his sword across Derek's chest. Kaiba ended his turn and waited as Derek placed one monster in defence mode and played on card face down.

"I sacrifice Lord of Dragons and summon the Vampire Lord to the field!" Kaiba shouted as he put the Vampire Lord card on the disc and watched the Lord of Dragons shatter as a coffin appeared in its place and the Vampire Lord stepped out. Kaiba looked at the card he had drawn at the start of his turn, it was a magic card that allowed him to swap the effect of a trap or magic card to another one of his monsters, "I'll also place one card face down and attack your Ancient Elf with my Vampire Lord." Kaiba shouted as the Vampire Lord stepped forward, Derek flipped his card; it was tribute to the doomed, which allowed Derek to discard one card from his hand to destroy one of Kaiba's monsters.

"And I want to get rid of your Ultimate Dragon!" Derek shouted, but Kaiba flipped his card,

"I activate my Reflecting Defence card to change the target of your magic card to my Vampire Lord!" Kaiba stated as the Vampire Lord shattered and the Ancient Elf stayed kneeling on the field, until Kaiba ordered his Blue-eyes to destroy it. Derek looked confused as the coffin rose out of the ground and the Vampire Lord stepped out onto the field.

"What?" Derek exclaimed as Kaiba laughed in triumph,

"You really are a rookie if you didn't know that the Vampire Lord's special ability means that it cannot be destroyed unless it is completely removed from play. You can't kill a monster that is already dead!" Kaiba stated. Kaiba ordered the Vampire Lord to attack, bringing Derek down to 1300 life points. Derek played Sagan in defence mode and ended his turn, knowing he was defeated. Kaiba attacked Sagan with the Vampire Lord and them finished off Derek's life points with his Blue eyes, ending the duel.

"No!" Derek shouted in frustration, his friends had scattered, but would be back soon. Derek lunged at Kaiba with a knife, plunging it into his right leg. Tea ran to his side as he fell to his knees and punched Derek, who then ran off to find his friends.

"Kaiba!" Tea cried as she knelt down and tried to help him up, she hooked his arm over her shoulder and he managed to stand up, he pulled her towards the top of the alley, but she stopped him, "No, they have us cut off that way. We'll have to go somewhere else, come on. I know a place that's safe as a fortress." Tea replied as she pulled him to the left where there was a door, a door that led into an abandoned warehouse behind Kaiba Corp. Once inside she closed the door and went to a cupboard on the left, she opened the door and went inside with Kaiba, closing the door behind them.

"Oh yeah, safe as a fortress." Kaiba commented dryly. Tea tutted as she pulled a set of keys out of her pocket and found a silver one, it was more like a garage side door key than a house key. She unlocked the lock in the top right corner of the back of the cupboard and knelt down and unlocked the bottom right lock, she pushed the secret door open before helping Kaiba through and flicking a light switch to light the stairs,

"Hey! They must be in here!" she heard a man's voice shout. Tea went in and closed the door,

"We have to hurry." Tea whispered as she locked the door and helped Kaiba down the stairs. At the bottom she unlocked another door, only this one was a large metal one. They went in and she turned off the light on the stairs so that if the men looking for them opened the cupboard they wouldn't know that there was a door there. Tea closed and locked the bullet-proof door and even locked the bolts on the inside.

"Where are we?" Kaiba asked in amazement as he looked around. Tea helped him to the sofa and put some wood on the fire, lighting it with a match. She then sat down beside him,

"This is the old hide out, well I say old. We still use it as a place to hang out; I've been living here since I fell out with my mother. Derek never knew about this place, I wasn't stupid enough to tell him. Oh, come here. It's the rule that if you haven't been here before you have to carve your initials into the fire place." Tea replied as she handed Kaiba a sharp nail from a china pot on the fireplace. Kaiba read the other initials as he carved his in, TT, DD, JW, RB, TG, YM, MV, SW and MK were carved into the old wooden fore place,

"Who are all of these?" Kaiba asked as he sat back on the sofa and watched as Tea went around and pointed at the carvings,

"Well, there's Tristan, Duke, Joey, Bakura, me, Yugi, Mai, Serenity and Mokuba." Tea read. Kaiba was going to ask when she had taken Mokuba down here, but then he remembered they had been walking out of the alley when they met him when they went out for dinner, both times. Looking around Kaiba saw that as well as the two red chairs and matching sofa with the fire place there was a small kitchen like area on the right, a bed to the left and a small dining room table. There was a bathroom by the bed and a cupboard, but Kaiba couldn't see any heater, the only warmth seemed to come from the fire. Around the room were photos of everyone, there were some of Tea and Yugi in the park, Bakura, Joey, Tristan and Duke in the school, there was one of Mai and Serenity in the shop and there was one of Mokuba and Tea on the sofa, Bakura and Yugi duelling at the table with Joey in the background on the phone, Mai and Joey kissing on the sofa and Duke fighting with Tristan in the street. The pictures were from all the years they had known each other, the one of Tea and Yugi in the park being the first taken.

"Who took all of these?" Kaiba asked as he looked around in amazement,

"Well, Yugi's Grandfather took the one of Yugi and me in the park and the rest were taken by me, Yugi or Bakura. The others aren't good with cameras." Tea replied. She shivered as she sat beside him and Kaiba put his arm around her without thinking. Tea gently leaned on his shoulder and they forgot for a moment about their normal relationship. _What are you doing? She's annoying and talks friendship bullshit! You don't fancy her or love her!_ Kaiba scolded. Suddenly Tea sat up blushing and went to the kitchen, "Do you want a drink? Tea, Coffee, hot chocolate, coke, beer." She listed, Kaiba decided on a hot chocolate, the same as Tea, and she brought it over, along with a bowl of water, a cloth and a bandage.

 

* * *

 

"Hold still." Telar ordered as she gentle ran the hot cloth over Seth's chest, he had a deep cut where he had been caught in a fight. He had won, but the cuts needed seeing to. Seth hissed as the water stung the cut, "Sorry." Telar replied. Suddenly Seth slowly reached up and gently took the hand holding the cloth to his chest, he turned his head to look at her face with it's covered eyes and leaned closer to her, kissing her warm lips gently, she responded almost immediately and was soon on top of him, straddling him as she kissed him deeply.

 

* * *

 

"Kaiba?" Tea asked. She had seen it and he nodded that he had too. He looked at the bowl of water and then at her, the knife was still lodged in his leg and he leaned down to pull it out, "No!" Tea shouted, he stopped and raised an eyebrow, "We will be here until morning. If you pull the knife out then you'll bleed to death." She explained as he pulled his hand away and left the knife. It was stinging him and he didn't like to leave it there, but it seemed he had no choice. Tea knelt down and put her hands on the belt of his trousers, undoing it,

 

"What are you doing?" Kaiba demanded as he placed his hands on top of hers, he could feel his lower body reacting in a way he wasn't accustomed to, she noticed this and blushed,

"I have to take your trousers off to clean the cut and bandage it, I want you to live until the morning, and hopefully until we get to the hospital, in fact I don't want you to die at all, so if you don't mind." She replied as she undid his belt and went to the zipper of his trousers. Kaiba felt himself getting hot as she pulled his trousers down to where the knife blocked them from going any further, she then got some scissors and cut up the trousers and pulled them off the rest of the way, revealing Kaiba's black boxers. She ignored the boxers and went to the cut, using the wet, hot cloth to clean the cut.

"Hold still." Tea ordered as Kaiba moved his leg from the stinging. Tea dabbed it as gently as she could and wiped it over, the knife was just above his knee, meaning his leg would be very stiff when the knife was taken out. "Sorry." Tea apologised as Kaiba gasped, though what he was gasping about was a different matter, _that didn't sound like a gasp of pain to me._ Tea mused as she wrapped the bandage around his leg, and the knife. "There you go." Tea said as she finished and sat beside Kaiba on the sofa, _I have to admit, she's good at this medical stuff._ Kaiba thought. He looked around, trying to find something else to talk about,

"Are those your duelling cards?" he asked as he caught sight of a deck on the fireplace. Tea stood up and retrieved the deck from the fireplace, where it had been left by the pot the other day.

"Yes, but I don't duel much." Tea replied as she sat down, Kaiba looked through the cards, looking at each one carefully, she had a lot of rare cards, most of which he himself owned. The deck contained exactly 42 cards, as did most decks, in fact it was tournament rules that your deck should contain exactly 42 cards.

"What? How?" Kaiba gasped as he picked out the rarest card in Tea's deck, not only was it the rarest card in her deck it was the rarest card in the world, almost. Kaiba had heard of this card only once and had tried to find it before, but had given up, deciding it had been destroyed like the stories told. It was the Gold-eyes Black Dragon and had been made to fight with his Blue-eyes.

"Oh, that was a gift from my mother. She said that she had been a small girl when a young Egyptian man gave it to her, saying that she must hand it down to her daughter and then he just left, she didn't even know she was going to have a daughter back then, but she did as he said and kept it safe and secret. At the time hundreds of people were looking for it and some would kill for it. Over the years people began to think it had been lost or destroyed, but the thing is, now that I have it I don't know what the Egyptian man wanted me to do with it." Tea puzzled as she looked at it. _Holy shit, she really believes this bullshit!_ Kaiba thought, still it was an impressive story. He looked at the card again; he wanted it so badly. If he had it then he would be unstoppable. "You want it don't you." She observed, Kaiba looked at her,

"Of course, who wouldn't?" he replied as he looked back at the card, which looked so much like his Blue-eyes in shape and form.

"Then it's yours, if you can defeat me in a duel." She challenged, Kaiba laughed and nodded, raising his duel disc.

"You're on!" he replied. Tea smiled and pulled a table over and sat on the floor as Kaiba took his deck out of the disc, the room was too small for the holograms and they didn't want to make too much noise. "Ladies first." He offered as they took five cards from their decks. Tea looked at her hand, Forgiving Maiden, Numinous Healer, Solemn Wishes, Negate Attack and Siren of Winter,

"I place three cards face down and summon the Forgiving Maiden in defence mode." She said as she place the cards on the table and ended her turn, Kaiba then played two cards face down and summoned Lord of Dragons in attack mode, he couldn't attack her, but he could wait.

"I summon Siren of Winter, and as a result of this I can now activate Solemn Wishes and call Siren of Summer, Siren of Autumn and Siren of Spring from my deck to the field, and just to make things a little more fun I'll use Malevolent Nuzzler to raise the attack of my Siren of Winter from 1800 to 2500. I'll then attack your Lord of Dragons, taking three hundred out of your life points." She said. Kaiba wrote on a piece of paper that his life points were now at 3700, with her other three monsters she could try to wipe him out, all of her three monsters had 1800 attack points. "I'll then attack with Siren of Summer," she said, but Kaiba flipped his crush card and Tea stopped her attack, going through her deck and putting all of her monsters with 1500 attack points or more to the grave yard, her life points went up 500 points as she ended her turn because of Solemn Wishes, giving her 4500 life points. "Nice." Tea commented. Kaiba smiled at her, lost in the game, and played La gin the Mystical Genie of the lamp and attacked her, taking her life points down to 2800. Tea then activated her Numinous Healer and her life points went up to 3800.

"I summon a monster in defence mode." She said as she placed a card face down, Kaiba then summoned the Vampire Lord, sacrificing La gin to do so. He used Dark Hole to take out all the monsters on the field, though the Vampire Lord came back again and attacked Tea's life points again, taking her down to 1800, he then used Monster Reborn to bring back La gin and finish her off.

"Wow, I've never duelled like that before." Tea said stunned as Kaiba sat back and sipped his drink, now warm rather than hot.

"You haven't duelled much then." Tea nodded in agreement as she gathered her cards and sat beside him on the sofa. She searched through her deck, bringing out not one but six cards. She gave them to Kaiba, who looked at them in confusion.

"These are your Siren cards, and Solemn Wishes, why are you giving me the strongest cards in your deck?" Kaiba asked, they were also some of the rarest cards and the Siren cards were so rare that Kaiba had never seen one of them until now, there was only one other set of those in the world, and that set was of male sirens, but the cards were the same and had the same abilities, allegedly, but where that other set was remained unknown.

"I have the other set, plus I don't duel much, so I want you to take those cards, put them in your deck and think of me when you use them." She replied as she held up the other set of four Siren cards. Kaiba looked at the cards he held in his hand and then reached for his deck, he went through and removed six cards to make room for them. He removed Electric Eel, Crawling Dragon, Sagi the Dark Clown, Night Demon, Moyan Curry and Gemini Elf.

"Thank you." He said as he placed his improved deck in his duel disc. Tea looked at her watch, it was three in the morning and they had only been there for a few hours, she hadn't realised in all the talking and stuff.

"Kaiba, where's Mokuba? I don't like the idea of him alone out there." Tea asked in worry, she had grown to like Mokuba a lot over the time they had known each other; she cared for him almost as much as Kaiba did.

"He'll be fine, that limo driver may be dense but he's not completely stupid." Kaiba replied sleepily, he was going to sleep. Tea slapped him hard and he jerked awake, giving her a harsh look. She looked at the bandage and saw it was soaked through and blood was trickling down his leg into a small pool on the floor and staining the red sofa too,

"You can't go to sleep, if you do then you might not wake up." Tea stated, but Kaiba was already feeling drowsy again and didn't really hear much of what she said. Tea got the duvet from the bed and put it over Kaiba, climbing under it with him to keep him warm, putting her arms around him and leaning on him, his eyes were a little unfocused, "Kaiba, stay with me ok?" Tea ordered as she pulled her mobile phone out of her pocket. She dialled and called for an ambulance and then she called Mokuba, telling him where they were and telling him to call her when the ambulance and police arrived, she then called the police and told them what had happened in the alley and told them they were in a cupboard in the old warehouse. "Oh no, Kaiba! Kaiba wake up you bastard! Come on you useless moron! Don't even think about going into a coma! You have Mokuba to consider, what's gonna happen to him if you go and die on us?" she shouted as she hit Kaiba hard round the face. He opened his eyes and looked at her vaguely, his eyes even more unfocused, Tea felt tears in her eyes as she put a hand on his face, "You'll be ok." She cried, she pulled him up and got him up the stairs to the cupboard. She sat there with her arms around him, pinching him when he began to sleep. The door flew open and there were paramedics there, Mokuba had called to tell her they were coming, but she still thought it would be Derek opening the door.

"Ok Honey, come on. Mr. Kaiba, can you hear me? Stay with me sir." The Paramedic said as he and two others got Kaiba on a stretcher and took him to the ambulance with Tea. Mokuba tried to get through, but was stopped.

"Mokuba! Let him in!" Tea ordered. At first the paramedics wouldn't allow it, but quickly changed their minds when she told them how angry Kaiba would be when he heard that they hadn't allowed his brother to come with them. Mokuba held Kaiba's hand with tears running down his face, Kaiba registered his touched faintly and loosely held it until he fell a sleep,

"Seto!" Mokuba cried as he shook on his brother's limp arm and Tea put her arms around Mokuba reassuringly,

"We're here! Don't worry Mokuba. He'll be fine." Tea said as the doors opened and Kaiba was wheeled away. Tea was walked to a room and changed into hospital clothes, they wanted to check her over and let her sleep a while; she had hit her head on the wall before Kaiba had arrived, but it was fine. Mokuba waited in the waiting room for news on his brother and called Tea's friends and mother to tell them where they were and what had happened.


	5. Chapter 5

"No, Liviana, I won't do this to Bakura." Ryou objected as Liviana tried to kiss him. It had been a few nights ago that she had been round for dinner and now she was making a move on him, once again in his house.

"I know, but the thing is I love you both and can't chose between you." She replied; Bakura appeared beside him as he held her back, he looked hurt but understanding, she looked at him guiltily but firmly.

"You have to chose." Ryou replied; **Sorry Bakura but it's better to know.** Ryou said. Bakura nodded and turned back to Liviana,

"I can't choose, I want you both." She decided, "Ryou, you're strong, handsome, dark, mysterious and firm, but Bakura is light hearted, funny, smart, gentle, innocent and so cute it's unbelievable. If only you were one person rather than two." She joked. Ryou saw something flicker in her eyes, something he hadn't seen for three thousand years, Liviana still had the millennium eye in her pocket and Ryou had the feeling that it was trying to tell him something, or call him, or someone. He reached out a hand and touched Liviana's face, **Could it be?** He wondered, there was that flicker again, only this time it was in her eyes,

"Sahara?" he asked to the flicker. Sahara had been his lover three thousand years ago when he had been a servant of the priest, a slave of the Pharaoh and a tomb thief. The desert had been named after her because of her beauty; she had been the Pharaoh's sister.

"Ryou! No!" Bakura shouted as he reached to Liviana's eye, her right eye, holding her arm tightly as she struggled. She screamed in terror and pain as he gouged her eye out and blood ran down her face, mixed with tears. Ryou took the millennium eye from her pocket and forced it into her eye socket as Liviana screamed in terror. "Ryou! What have you done?" Bakura demanded as Liviana fell to the floor clutching her right eye, which now looked like a gold out line of an eye with a circular pupil in the middle. Bakura dived to his knees and put his ghost like hands on her shoulders, "Liviana! Are you all right? Speak to me please!" he begged as he tried to comfort her. She looked at him, blood and tears running down her cheeks. Bakura leaned forwards and put his arms around her and suddenly it wasn't her anymore, she was someone else. Bakura felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Liviana smiling down at him. "Liviana!" he cried as he put his arms around her gently, _How did you know?_ He asked, referring to the fact that Liviana had a Yami too. Ryou wasn't listening, he was staring at Sahara with tears running down his cheeks, she held her hands out to him,

"Sahara." He breathed as he took her in his arms, she held him tightly with tears running down her cheeks, her words were coming in sobs,

"Oh, Ryou. I thought we would be parted forever." She cried. Ryou held her at arms length and looked at her, the blood still ran from the eye, but it would stop soon.

"Hey, I promised I would find you even if it took a thousand years, I may be a little late but hey, better late than never as they say." He joked; Sahara smiled and put her arms around her long lost love.

"It makes sense now; you never wanted to take over the world at all. You were just trying to find her the whole time weren't you?" Bakura said, but Ryou shook his head,

"No, I was going to take over the world. I would have had to in order find the right host. You see, just as you are a reincarnation of me, Liviana is a reincarnation of Sahara so I would have had to rule the world to be able to find her." Ryou replied, Bakura didn't bother to mention how soppy Ryou was being, it would have agitated his other half. Bakura turned his attention back to Liviana, she looked beautiful even with the golden eye.

"I choose you Bakura. I've just realised, I never loved Ryou; it was Sahara the whole time influencing how I felt. It's you I want, and it always has been." Liviana said as she threw her arms around Bakura's neck and locked her lips on his. Ryou laughed as Bakura fell over backwards with her on top of him, a look of surprise and shock on his bright red face. Sahara looked down and laughed lightly, looking at Ryou slyly,

"I remember when we used to do that." She said playfully. Ryou put his arms around her and kissed her deeply, forcing her to the ground and landing on top of her,

"Do you mean like this?" he asked mockingly, not letting her reply as he forced his lips onto hers again, but the phone rang loudly and interrupted Ryou's thoughts **Damn.** He let Bakura take over and get the phone.

"Hello, Bakura here, how may I help?" he asked in his British fashion as Liviana climbed to her feet, once again in control of her body. She looked down and yelped, seeing her right eye staring up at her blankly from the wooden floor, "Oh no! I'll be right there…yes, I'll pick Mrs. Gardener up on the way…Good bye Mokuba." Bakura said as he hung up. He looked at little pale as he turned back to Liviana, who was white and leaning on the wall. Bakura looked at the eye and almost passed out, he didn't have a strong stomach for things like that, "Come on, I have to go to the hospital, I'll take you home first." Bakura offered as he took her hand and led her to the door and left her there while he went back to deal with the eyes, picking it up with his eyes closed and putting it in the bin, almost throwing up when he was done. _I hope she doesn't suffer any medical side effects._ Bakura thought, **I was careful when I did it, do you think I would harm her?** Ryou replied, _No, but you never know…_ Bakura argued, **don't worry. The eye will heal any damage.** Ryou assured, Bakura nodded and felt relieved, he trusted Ryou's word.

 

* * *

 

"We can't carry on like this." Marik argued as he walked around his room, he was wearing his white boxers, but nothing else and Serenity lay in bed watching him, covered with the blanket up to her chest so that only her bare shoulders showed, her hair was a mess from where they had been doing things that they knew they shouldn't, and Marik was now panicking, "What about Joey? He's going to be furious!" Marik raved, his hands twitched as if he needed something, he went to his draw and pulled out a packet of cigarettes, though there was a joint inside rather than a cigarette,

 

"You do drugs?" Serenity asked in shock as Marik lit the joint and leaned out of the window, not wanting Grandpa or Yugi to notice the smell. He took a drag and breathed it out of the window,

"Yeah, so? If you had had a life like mine then you'd do it too." He assured coldly. He looked back at Serenity who had that pained look on her face that made Marik feel like he had to hold her and protect her from the pains of the world. He took another drag and put the joint out, going to the bed and putting his arms around her, "Sorry." He said quietly as she looked at him,

"If you love me then give it up." she ordered, Marik seemed to twitch at that,

"I've tried before, a week after I started in fact, it's no good. I'm hooked for life." He replied as he looked at the stubbed out joint in his hand. Serenity took the joint and threw it out of the open window, Marik got to his feet and almost shouted at her, he looked so angry that Serenity put her hands up to block the fist she thought was going to fly at her, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get angry," he apologised fell to the bed and put his arms around her again,

"See? You've already started to give up, and don't say you can't because you can. This time you have me to help you." She said sweetly. Marik thought about it and realised she was right, if he cared more about the drugs he would have hit Serenity and gone down to get the joint. _I can do it!_ He thought in determination. The phone rang and he heard Yugi answer it. Serenity got up and pulled her clothes on, thinking it would be Joey for her. When they were both dressed Marik took her in his arms and kissed her, just as the door opened. Marik broke off and saw Yugi and Grandpa in the doorway looking at them, _Lucky they hadn't called earlier._ He thought as he looked at their shocked expressions. He was frozen to the spot, it seemed that time had stopped as no one moved for what seemed like hours,

"Uh, I don't want to know, I didn't see a thing," Yugi decided. Grandpa didn't seem too bothered, in fact he showed no surprise what so ever making Marik think he may already have known.

"We're going to the hospital, Tea's been taken in with Kaiba." Grandpa said as they walked into the living room. They all agreed to go, Joey would be there to take Serenity home, Yugi wanted to see Tea as did Grandpa and Grandpa didn't want to leave Marik alone in the house, the Neo Ghouls may come back. Marik didn't argue, he wanted to go with Serenity. They had to tell Joey.

 

* * *

 

"Where am I?" Kaiba asked to the darkness around him, Tea was dreaming, but it wasn't a dream, she knew it, it was the future. The millennium necklace was trying to tell her something.

 

The view switched to the hospital room, Mokuba was crying, Kaiba was trapped in a coma and it was unlikely he would wake up because of all the blood he had lost. Tea saw time pass and Mokuba was twenty, still with the long black hair, he wore Kaiba's clothes and carried his brief case. He leaned down and kissed his brothers forehead before leaving the room and allowing the nurse to turn off the life support machine, it had been nine years and the Doctors still said he was stuck in the coma so Mokuba had decided to turn it off and put his brother to rest. Out side Tea saw him crying into Yugi's shoulder, Tea could even see herself there in the background being comforted by Mai,

She was back in Kaiba's mind, watching his mind suffocate, alone in the darkness.

 

* * *

 

"Tea? Thank God, I was so worried." Mrs. Gardener said as Tea opened her eyes, she sat up sharply, immediately getting out of bed, much to her mother's shock and horror and to the objection of the nurse, who tried to turn her back to the bed.

 

"Get off me God damn it! I have to get to Kaiba!" she shouted at the young nurse, who was a little intimidated by Tea since she was about a foot taller. Mrs. Gardener got up and went to her daughter, taking her arm roughly,

"Tea! How dare you speak to her like that!" she scolded, Tea pulled free and pushed her mother away,

"You're a fine one to talk! I bet you don't know what I've been through sine I left, do you? Why don't you leave because I don't want you here!" Tea shouted as she left the room, walking into Mai as she did,

"Tea, are you ok?" she asked,

"Sorry Mai I don't have time. Kaiba needs me now, can you get her away from me please?" she asked, indicating her mother who had followed her out into the corridor. Mai nodded and took Mrs. Gardener aside, saying Tea needed time to herself and offering her a cup of coffee.

"Tea!" Mokuba shouted as he ran out of a private room, Tea knelt down and hugged him tightly,

"Where's your brother?" she asked and when he indicated the room behind she went in, ignoring the nurse as she tried to force her out. Suddenly the millennium necklace flashed and the nurse froze, Mokuba walked up and tapped her arm, she was still as a statue,

"What did you do?" he asked, Tea would have said if she knew but at the moment she didn't care, she went to Kaiba, he was wired up to a machine and seemed to be fast asleep,

"Coma?" she asked in dread of the answer, but already knowing what the answer would be. Mokuba nodded as she sat down beside the still form of Kaiba, he was breathing lightly as Tea brushed a few strands of hair out of his face. She took one of his hands and kissed it, focusing and trying to use the necklace.

 

* * *

 

"Who's there?" Kaiba asked in the darkness as a form appeared. He was in his usual turtle neck and trench coat and in front of him there was a woman, it was Tea in her usually shirt and shorts she wore outside of work hours,

 

"Kaiba! Wake up!" she ordered. Kaiba looked at her in confusion, _am I really asleep?_ He wondered, _well I guess I must be; how else do I explain the echoing shadows?_

"How?" he asked,

"Just do it, Mokuba needs you." She replied as she put a hand on his cheek gently, she went closer and kissed him deeply, he didn't pull away from her and found himself pulling her closer until she pushing him away smiling with a single tear rolling down her cheek, "Good bye." She whispered. Kaiba looked at her in confusion, _what does she mean 'good bye'?_ He wondered, and he would have asked but felt her slap his face and the next thing he knew he was awake.

 

* * *

 

"Seto!" Mokuba cried as he threw his arms around his brother's neck. Kaiba put an arm around Mokuba and felt something in his other hand, he looked down and saw Tea; her hand was limp like the rest of her. Mokuba leaned down and shook her, "Tea, hey Tea, he's awake, Tea?" Mokuba tried desperately as he shook her shoulder. The nurse unfroze and turned to the bed, almost crying out in surprise as she saw Kaiba awake and Tea asleep, Mokuba started crying as he shook Tea, _She didn't sacrifice herself for me? Come on Tea! I need you!_ He thought.

 

* * *

 

"Tea…Tea?" Kaiba asked as she stirred in her sleep. It had been a week since Tea had put herself into a coma and she had stirred many times in those few days, but Kaiba still maintained the belief that she would wake up. Mokuba was at home; he had been there all night by her bedside. Kaiba was the only one in the room for now, Mrs. Gardener had been and left and the gang hadn't been in so far.

 

"Kaiba!" Yugi said in surprise as he walked through the door. Kaiba hadn't left the bedside for the week, he had showered at the hospital, but hadn't slept or eaten anything; he looked thin and exhausted. Kaiba looked at Yugi weakly,

"What?" he asked sleepily as Yugi sat beside him and put a hand on his shoulder,

"You look awful, you should get some sleep." Yugi said as he looked at Kaiba in concern, but Kaiba shook his head and stayed where he was,

"No, I'm staying here. She saved my life." He replied, more to himself than to Yugi,

"Kaiba, you're going to kill yourself, or at least get very sick. Who will take care of Mokuba if you carry on like this?" Yami, who had taken over, demanded. Kaiba looked at Tea, _That's what you would say. In fact, it's what you did say._ He thought as he took one of Tea's hands in his. She stirred again at his touch and he thought he felt her grip tighten,

"Tea?" he asked hopefully as Yami looked down at her and saw her trying to wake up,

"Tea, come on. We need you here." Yami said softly. She stirred a little more and Kaiba leaned over and kissed her cheek gently, making her heart rate go up a little. She opened her eyes,

"Am I back?" she asked sleepily as she looked around at Kaiba and Yami. Yami nodded and Tea sat up slowly, "Hey there stranger. What happened to you? Did you sleep in the park or something?" she mocked as she looked at Kaiba, _Hell, I must look terrible! H_ e thought as she laughed at him, "Don't say a word, just go home, eat something, take a shower and get some sleep, go on." Tea ordered as she pointed at the door. Kaiba nodded and left silently,

"I think he likes you." Yami commented as Kaiba left. Tea nodded

"He might." She replied.


	6. Chapter 6

"You're what?" Joey shouted, Serenity and Marik were in the shop and Serenity, as you may have guessed, had chosen to tell Joey about her and Marik,

"I said I'm sleeping with Marik." She replied. Luckily Mai was there to calm Joey down. She put a hand on his shoulder and pulled him back a little as he looked at Marik with a hateful glare as he stepped forward and put his arms around Serenity.

"Get ya hands off her ya pervert!" Joey ordered as he stepped forward with his fist clenched. Marik pulled Serenity behind him and shielded her from Joey, thinking he would hit her by accident.

"Joey! That's enough!" Mai shouted as she pulled him back by his T-shirt,

"But Mai! He's evil! He put you and Bakura in the shadow realm and almost sent me there too!" he argued. Mai put her hands on her hips and tossed her head,

"Joey, you know that it wasn't Marik's fault. It was his darker half." She argued,

"Joey, if you can't except Marik then that's fine. You can stay away from me too." Serenity said sadly. Joey turned away from Mai to look at Serenity, who was now at Marik's side.

"Serenity…" Joey said in confusion, looking betrayed. Serenity looked back at him with sad eyes,

"I'm sorry Joey, but I love Marik and I won't give him up just because you don't like him." She replied. Joey gave Marik an evil stare and left with Mai as Marik looked on hopelessly. Serenity started crying and Marik held her to his chest, _There has to be a way to make this right…_

 

* * *

 

"What are you doing?" Bakura asked suspiciously as Liviana closed and locked his bedroom door. **What do you think she's doing you twit?** Ryou asked mockingly. Bakura didn't reply as Liviana walked towards him and gently pushed him onto the bed, lying on top of him with her hand between his legs,

"What do you think I'm doing?" she asked slyly as she tightened her grip slightly, Bakura shifting uncomfortably beneath her, _Ryou, help!_ He said pleadingly, **sorry chap, this is something you have to do by yourself.** Ryou replied. Bakura felt himself getting hot as Liviana unbuttoned his shirt and slid it off; Bakura went red and felt his whole body tense as she ran her hand down his bare chest.

"Liviana I," Bakura began, but he was stopped by Liviana's tongue as she kissed him before he could object or question her actions. _How do I stop her?_ Bakura asked in a panic, **Oh, don't be pathetic, just go with it.** Ryou replied encouragingly. _Great help you are in a tight spot!_ Bakura replied as he panicked even more, **oh, alright!**

"Sweetheart, you're going too fast and you're freaking the poor boy out. Have mercy on the pathetic one." Ryou said apologetically as he took over and pushed Liviana back. Liviana sighed and sat up on the bed as Bakura appeared in spirit form beside her,

"I'm sorry, I wimped out." He apologised as he sat beside her,

"It's okay Bakura. We'll try again when you're ready. In the mean time." She said slyly, turning her glance to Ryou and switching places with Sahara. Ryou noticed the change immediately and looked at Bakura,

"Excuse me if you would." He prompted, Bakura took the hint and disappeared,

"Are you sure you still know how?" Sahara teased as she forced him down,

"Well, you'll soon find out princess." He replied playfully as he stroked the side of her face and moved his hand down to the neck of her light yellow shirt. He gripped the collar and pulled, all of the buttons falling off the shirt and scattering across the bed and rolling onto the floor.

"That was her favourite shirt." Sahara scolded as Ryou went for the clip behind her bra,

"She'll get over it." He replied as he rolled over, forcing Sahara onto her back. Sahara reached for the belt of his trousers as he ran his hand gently up her leg, feeling her shiver at his touch. "I think I've still got it." He added as he leaned down and kissed her,

"Never doubted it for a second." She replied in a hurried whisper as she pulled the zipper of his jeans down, "Hurry up!" she added as he pulled at her skirt. He ran his hand up the inside of her leg expecting to feel a cotton material, but he felt silken hair instead,

"No underwear? What would happen if you were hit by a bus?" he asked jokingly as Sahara forced him onto his back and straddled his hips, feeling his hard member beneath her as she slid his boxers down,

"The paramedics would have a nasty shock." She replied as she leaned down and kissed him teasingly, sliding forward slightly, but not enough for him to enter her,

"You're teasing! You make me wait for five thousand years, and then you tease me?" he asked, sounding hurt and insulted. Sahara smiled as he wrapped his arms around her back and pulled her down so that eh could kiss her again. She felt his hands move down to her hip bones and gently pull, sliding her forward so that he penetrated her, receiving a small gasp for his efforts. "What's wrong?" he asked worriedly,

"Nothing, this body was new." She replied,

"You mean she's never…oh." He replied awkwardly.

"Don't worry, she wanted me to do it, she was too scared." She replied,

"But the first time is the most special, I hate to think that I've taken that from her." He argued,

"Ryou, shut up and get moving!" Sahara ordered compellingly. Ryou smirked and pushed her back, feeling his member sliding out of her smoothly until she pushed herself forward again. Bakura used one arm to lean on as he sat up and kissed her, feeling her moving in a steady rhythm, the familiar feeling of intense pleasure building within him. He put his other hand on her back and his lips moved down her neck to her breast where he gently bit down, feeling her inhale. He smirked to himself as he continued to nip her breast playfully, "Ryou, I need help here." She gasped, allowing him to roll her onto her back and take over, his thrusts were a lot stronger and faster, forcing loud moans from Sahara, which only heightened Ryou's pleasure, which was reaching its height. He pushed further into Sahara, hearing her utter a loud cry as he rammed into her forcefully just before climaxing. He continued to thrust in and out as Sahara's gasps became faster and louder,

"Are you almost there?" he asked in exhaustion as Sahara cried out again. He felt her tighten around his member and pulled out of her, rolling onto his side and putting an arm over her, "Don't bother answering that." He replied tiredly as he closed his eyes in exhaustion.

 

* * *

 

"Tea!" Mokuba shouted as he ran down the steps of Kaiba Corp and into her arms. She lifted him and swung him round before placing him on the ground. Kaiba was up in his office, but Tea could see him looking down out of the window at her and hesitantly raised a hand, receiving a small smile in return, "Are you sure you should be back?" Mokuba asked as he walked to the lift with her. She nodded, slightly annoyed that he was fussing, she had had enough of that from Yugi, who had refused to leave her alone for weeks. She back on non-speaking terms with her mother, just the way she liked it, and she was back to living in the hide out. She stepped into the lift with Mokuba and went to the top floor and found that there was no work on her desk, which was unusual.

 

"Hey Kaiba, where's all the work? It should have piled up since I was away." She asked as she went into his office, Mokuba tagging along behind. He was at his desk looking up at her,

"It's done. You can go if you want." He said. Tea opened her eyes in disbelief,

"Done? How?" she asked, Kaiba had no papers on the desk she noticed. "What's going on?" she asked. Kaiba got up and grabbed his coat,

"We're going out." He replied. Tea followed him back to the lift and, once they reached the lower level, out of Kaiba Corp. Mokuba pulled her along by her hand to make her hurry up,

"Ok, where are we going? Will you stop pulling me? hey! No pushing." Tea objected as Kaiba placed a hand on the small of her back and pushed her along, though secretly she was enjoying it. They led her through the town to the burger bar that they usually went to and they got lunch. "Ok, so you took the day off to munch burgers." Tea said sarcastically,

"Sarcasm. Lowest form of wit." Kaiba stated dryly. Tea sighed, not getting an answer from him. She sat back just as Mai and Joey came in,

"Hi, are we late?" Mai asked as she sat next to Kaiba, Joey sliding in next to her, not liking the idea of Mai sitting with Kaiba. Marik came in with Serenity a few moments later and sat with Tea and Mokuba, shortly followed by Yugi, Tristan, Bakura and Liviana.

"Who's this?" Tea asked as Bakura pulled another table up,

"Liviana, she's…a friend I met in the park." Bakura replied as he pulled a chair out for her and sat her down. Tea laughed under her breath,

"And do you seat all of your 'friends' like that?" she asked teasingly, making Bakura blushed dark red. Yugi and Tristan sat next to Joey and began discussing duel monsters and their decks, Mai was busy winding up Kaiba, with some help from Mokuba, and Tea was talking to Bakura and Liviana while Marik and Serenity spoke to each other.

 

* * *

 

Time went by and soon it was back to just the three of them, Kaiba, Mokuba and Tea. Tea yawned, it was ten already, she hadn't realised the time.

 

"Thanks Kaiba, we should do this again some time, but I really have to go." She said as she got up. Kaiba rose with her, "I don't need an escort." She assured as she put a hand on his shoulder to force him back to the chair as Mokuba looked up in worry.

"What if." Kaiba started, but Tea held up a hand to cut him off and left, waving through the window as she went by. Kaiba looked up at the sky, dark clouds were gathering and rain had started to pour. "Mokuba, send for the limo." He ordered.

 

* * *

 

Tea ran down the alley in the rain, she was soaked and couldn't wait to have a bath and get to bed. _What was that?_ She wondered as she looked around, there was no one here, but she was sure she had heard something, _must have been the wind,_ she decided nervously as she started running again.

 

"Tea." A voice whispered from the darkness. She turned. No one was there, but the voice came again, this time from behind her. She turned and was grabbed by Derek. She screamed and struggled as he pinned her to the wall of the alley, holding a knife to her throat. "Did you forget about me? What a big mistake that was." He mocked, making a small cut on her throat with the knife, enjoying her grimace as the knife cut her, he watched the blood trickle down her throat in disinterest.

"Whatever you're going to do just do it." She replied harshly, _Boy, I really know how to pick 'em!_ She thought as he took her throat with his hand.

"First I'll tell you what I'm going to do. You see I realised when you were watching that duel last time we met that I hate your eyes, they make me sick with their pity and fear, so now I've decided to take them." He explained; her eyes went wide in that sickening expression of hers. _I will enjoy this…a lot!_ Tea tried to pull away as he slammed her head back against the wall. "The more you struggle the more it'll hurt." He warned as he plunged the knife forward and into her eye, ripping out the first and then the second, watching the blood pour down her face, she hadn't screamed, _How disappointing._ He thought in disgust, _she wouldn't even let me torture her properly._ He thought as he pushed her to the ground and walked away.

 

* * *

 

The limo swerved, there was a scream and Kaiba felt his seat belt cut into his shoulder. Mokuba, who had been sleeping with Kaiba's trench coat draped over him, snapped awake and looked around in alarm,

 

"What the hell is going on?" Kaiba shouted, _if Mokuba's hurt that limo driver is toast!_ Kaiba thought angrily as he turned to check on his brother, who was a little shaken, but fine apart from that.

"Sorry Mr. Kaiba sir, but she just ran out in front of me, I couldn't help it sir." The driver apologised. Kaiba sighed, _I guess I should go and see if 'she' is alright._ Kaiba decided as he got out of the limo in his turtleneck top. It was still pouring with rain and there was lightning and thunder added to the storm, _how dramatic._ Kaiba thought in boredom.

"Are you ok?" Kaiba asked as he stepped into the road and went up to the form of a woman on her knees, _I know her don't I?_ Kaiba thought as the lightning flashed, the woman got up shakily, keeping her back to him,

"K-Kaiba?" she asked. She was crying, though whether in shock or fear it was hard to tell. Kaiba went up to her and put a hand on her shoulder, making her jump,

"Tea!" Kaiba registered in surprise. He turned her around jumped back, blood poured from the empty eye sockets and stained her now see through white shirt. Tea reached out a hand, Kaiba had taken his hand off her and she couldn't see him.

"Kaiba?" she called as she reached out, Kaiba felt the impulse to go forward and put his arms around her, so he did. She cried into his shoulder, _I'll get him for this!_ Kaiba pledged.

"Hey Seto, what's up?" Mokuba asked as he appeared at the front of the limo. Tea turned away,

"Don't let him see." She begged and Kaiba shielded her as Mokuba stepped forward, something gold in his hand.

"Stop, go back." Kaiba ordered,

"But Seto, I found this on the side walk, it's Tea's!" he said as he held up the millennium necklace. Kaiba held a hand out and took it, watching as Mokuba went back to the car. When Mokuba was gone Kaiba put the necklace around Tea's neck. Suddenly she straightened,

"I can see." She stated, as she looked Kaiba. She asked for a piece of material she could use to get to the hospital in, she didn't want Mokuba to see the empty holes. Kaiba ripped off the arm of his turtleneck and used it to tie around her eyes, she could still see though she wasn't using her eyes to do it,

"I'll get you to the hospital," Kaiba said as he took her arm and walked her to the car, telling the driver where to go. Mokuba looked at the blood running from Tea's cheeks and was glad that the thing around her eyes was black rather than white. He looked down at his feet as Kaiba sat beside her and the limo started driving.

"It's ok Mokuba. You can look." She said as she looked out of the window. Mokuba looked up in confusion, her eyes were covered, how could she see him? Kaiba gave him a 'not now' look, making Mokuba looked away again.

 

* * *

 

They got to the hospital and Tea got out behind Kaiba and went to accident and emergency.

 

"Don't tell my mother or any of the others. Not yet." She ordered as she walked, unaided, up to the front desk. The woman didn't look up as she approached. "I need a doctor now." She stated. The woman glanced up, not paying attention to her.

"What's the problem?" she asked. Tea untied the sleeve and took it away form her eyes, lifting the desk ladies face to look at her.

"This is." She replied. The lady at the desk looked at her in horror as the blood poured down her face, she felt a hand on her shoulder as Kaiba stepped forward,

"Get a doctor now!" He shouted as she snapped back to herself. She hurried off and a doctor came in, taking her by the arm and leading her to a private room. As they walked she pulled away and he took her arm again,

"I don't need your help." Tea insisted as she pulled away and walked, she walked around the people she saw in the corridor, who all stopped and stared after her in a mixture of horror and amazement, and sat on the bed in her room as the doctor looked at the place where her eyes had been.

"Well, whoever it was knew what they were doing. Very clean cut. You can go in a couple of weeks once you're all cleaned up and we put glass ones in," he said. Tea shook her head,

"No, you will clean me up and tie a cloth around my eyes, I won't walk around with fake eyes." She stated. The doctor looked at Kaiba, who was in the doorway.

"Do as she asks." He replied to the doctor's look of concern. Kaiba went and sat beside Tea, taking her hand gently.

"I don't want pity Kaiba, if I wanted that I would have called Yugi." She said harshly as she pulled away, regretting it immediately and turning back to him and placing a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry." She apologised. Kaiba smiled at her and took the hand from his shoulder.

"You can come and stay with me at the mansion, you can't live on you own. Not now." He stated,

"Kaiba, I'm not incapable!" Tea argued harshly,

"I never said you were, what I meant was, if Derek did this once he'll do it again…god knows what he'd do next time." He replied as Mokuba bounded into the room. He looked at Tea and froze in terror, the blood was drying on her cheeks now and where her eyes used to be there were two dark pits,

"Mokuba…" Tea said shakily, _I didn't want him to see me like this!_ She thought as she looked at him apologetically and held her hands up to cover her eyes so he didn't have to look anymore,

"It's okay Tea, it isn't your fault." Mokuba said softly as he hopped up beside her and put his arms around her. She lowered her hands and put an arm around his shoulders, looking blankly ahead.

 

* * *

 

"Oh my god, Tea, my little girl!" Mrs. Gardener cried as she rushed into the hospital room and sat on the chair by Tea's bed. Tea sat up looking at a book, the power of the millennium necklace allowing her to read it. She looked towards her mother and her expression hardened. Bakura entered the room and stood near the door, mainly so that he could take Mrs. Gardener out if Tea wanted her to leave.

 

"Mother." Tea replied neutrally, turning her gaze to Bakura who smiled and held a hand up in greeting, knowing she could see him with the necklace on.

"Tea, don't worry. I'll take you home and take care of you; you'll be alright. I know that there's a place in town that makes glass eyes and Amanda trains guide dogs and has already offered us one if you want it and-" Mrs. Gardener said. Tea held up a hand, anger plain on her face. She had a cream scarf tied over her eyes today and as she looked at her mother she tugged at the knot to loosen it a little.

"No mother. I'm not going home with you, I'm not having glass eyes and I don't want or need a guide dog." She snapped as she cut her mother off. Mrs. Gardener looked at Tea in surprise and then went to looking slightly hurt. Tea ignored her mother's looks and went back to the book. "It's nice of you to take an interest now. You didn't take an interest when I left or when I was being bullied or when I was being raped, but as soon as I'm in hospital you're right there by my bedside. Do I have life insurance or something? How much do you get if I die? How much do you get for having a disabled child? Is it a lot?" Tea demanded. Mrs. Gardener looked at her daughter in mute horror as she revealed that she had been raped and bullied. Bakura could see that Tea was getting worked up,

"Mrs. Gardener. Perhaps it would be a good idea if we stepped outside for a few moments." Bakura suggested. Mrs. Gardener looked at Tea and nodded,

"No. Don't come back…ever." Tea said calmly as her mother walked to the door. Mrs. Gardener looked back, about to protest, but Tea shook her head and waited impatiently for her to leave. As she left Tea saw the tall outline of Kaiba in the doorway.

"Tea!" Mokuba yelped as he bounded through the door and ran over to her. She leaned over to him and allowed him to hop onto the bed and hug her. She felt the bed sag slightly as Kaiba sat on the end and waited for Mokuba to finish hugging.

"How are you feeling?" Kaiba asked, reaching over and taking one of her hands hesitantly. Tea shrugged, she was dress in a short denim skirt and cream sleeveless blouse and white over the knees socks. Her trainers were on the floor so she could slip into them easily.

"Okay I guess. The bruises have faded and the doctors say that my eye sockets should heal quickly." She replied as she slipped into her trainers and stood up. Her bag was under the bed and Kaiba leaned down to retrieve it, no one knew she was leaving today apart from the doctors and Kaiba. "Mokuba, is mother still out there?" Tea asked. Mokuba looked out and shook his head. The three of them walked through the corridors, avoiding Bakura and Mrs. Gardener as they went. They walked down the front steps to the black limo that waited for them,

"Tea! What do you think you're doing out of bed? Where are you going?" Mrs. Gardener demanded as she walked over from the door, Bakura close behind. Kaiba put the bag in the boot of the limo as Tea argued with her mother.

"I'm leaving, I've been discharged." She snapped in reply. Mokuba looked between the two, the glares that they gave each other made him a little uncomfortable, though Tea couldn't really glare, but he knew that she would have been if she had had eyes. Bakura put a hand on Mrs. Gardener's shoulder and pulled her back a little.

"How can you think that I don't care? I had you when I was fifteen, I worked day and night for you, I gave up my family and my life for you!" her mother snapped in reply. Tea turned to the limo to see if Kaiba was ready. He was waiting patiently for her and Mokuba.

"I don't have time for this mother and I won't say that I hope to see you again." Tea said coldly as she turned her back and climbed into the limo with Mokuba at her side. She heard her mother cry out to her but kept ignored her, knowing that Bakura was probably holding her back.


	7. Chapter 7

"What did you mean when you said you loved me?" Seth asked as he entered Telar's chamber. Telar was by the window and turned in surprise at his entrance.

"I meant that I love you, why can you not understand that?" she replied calmly, going back to looking out of the window. Seth started towards her but stopped, thinking better of it, and turned to leave. "Stay with me." Telar said imploringly as he opened the door. Seth turned to see her looking at him, then walking towards him. She was close, so close he could touch her. "Stay with me tonight." She whispered as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down, kissing him deeply. He responded by taking her in his arms and spinning around so that she was pressed to the wall with him in front of her. He kissed back and pulled at her dress to get it off. She allowed him to pull the dress over her head and in turn she pulled at the long black skirt like wrap round that he wore.

"Telar," Seth whispered. Telar hushed him and kissed him, allowing his hands to caress her skin and fondle her breasts, sending waves of pleasure through her as she moaned. He moved his lips from her mouth to her neck, making his way down to her breasts. He lifted her from the floor so that he was between her legs and she held him tightly around the neck as she leaned on the wall, hissing slightly as he entered her. He moved in and out of her with regular thrusts, making Telar moan in ecstasy.

 

* * *

 

"Tea! Seto! Wake up we're home!" Mokuba shouted as he hopped out of the limo and rushed to the boot. Tea looked at Kaiba who was looking back at her, _did he see?_ She wondered; looking into his eyes she was sure that he had seen the vision, but she also knew better than to ask about it. "Hey, what's keeping you?" Mokuba called from the boot. Tea snapped back to herself and climbed out of the limo, Kaiba close behind. Mokuba was waiting, the large, blue rucksack slung over his shoulder, weighing him down.

 

"Mokuba! That's far too heavy for you!" Tea objected as she walked over to him and took the bag. As she put it over her shoulder Kaiba grabbed the shoulder strap and pulled it away,

"It's too heavy for you too." Kaiba insisted as he slung it over his shoulder and walked Tea to the door, where Mokuba was turning his key in the lock. Tea looked up at the huge, white mansion in awe and as she stepped inside she couldn't help but gasp at the sight. The main hall was a huge, white marble room with a path of blood red carpet leading to the large set of stairs and trailing off the other various rooms of the house.

"Come on up stairs!" Mokuba called from the top of the stairs. Looking up Tea could see a bridge leading around the rooms in a large rectangle. She looked straight up, through the large rectangle hole above with the wooden banisters, to the huge red wood ceiling.

"Come on." Kaiba said as he went by, passing the large blue eyes white dragon statue that stood by the stairs and going up to join Mokuba. Tea followed slowly, looking around as a maid hurried through the hall to the kitchen, _people still wear those?_ She thought, laughing as the maid went by. She was wearing a long black dress with a white apron and a frilly white hat, the traditional garb of maids from years ago.

"What are you laughing at?" Kaiba asked as she reached the top of the stairs. Tea shook her head and walked ahead to join Mokuba who was standing outside the door of a room.

"You can stay in here." Mokuba said as he opened the door. Tea stepped inside and looked around in awe, the room was huge. It had a large four poster bed with blood red curtains around it, which matched the colour of the floor, a large wardrobe and matching chest of draws made of oak and a small red wood desk with a computer on it. The walls were white and there was a door that led to an on suite bathroom.

"A-are you sure? I mean this room is so big and…I don't want to be any trouble." Tea stated as she turned back to Mokuba and Kaiba, who had just put her bag by the door.

"Nonsense. There's so much space here it gets kind of lonely, I mean in a house this size you can only dominate so much of it, right Seto?" Mokuba asked. Kaiba nodded and turned to leave. "Where are you going Seto?" Mokuba asked. As Kaiba walked away he turned back to his brother for a moment,

"I have work to do Mokuba and Tea needs to get settled." Kaiba replied as he walked off. Mokuba sighed and leaned on the door, watching his brother walk down the stairs, _probably to his office._ Mokuba thought sadly.

"Come here and tell me what's wrong Mokuba." Tea ordered as she sat on the bed and patted the space beside her. Mokuba walked over and hopped onto the bed beside her, looking sad and lost.

"It's nothing, just the usual. Seto's working so much that I hardly see him, in fact the only time he stopped working over the past few weeks was when we went to visit you at the hospital and…well, I guess I'm just lonely. I don't have any friends in school because no one wants to know me and I get picked on by people from Seto's school because they don't like him." He replied sadly. Tea wrapped her arms around Mokuba and pulled him onto her lap,

"Why haven't you told Kaiba about these bullies? He could have sorted them out." Tea asked, as she looked at the small, lost boy on her lap, who leaned his head on her shoulder as she rocked him like a mother. _He's so sweet when he looks lost._ Tea thought absently as she waited for a reply.

"I didn't want to bother him with it, he has to run the company so he wouldn't have time for something silly like that." Mokuba replied. Tea laughed out loud, making Mokuba jump in surprise.

"Sorry Mokuba, but what you said is ridiculous! If Seto knew that you were being bullied then he'd make time to deal with it. You're the most important person in the world to him and don't you forget it." Tea replied. Mokuba looked at her doubtfully, but was reassured by her expression of faith. "As for not having any friends, well they must be crazy! You're the kindest and sweetest person I know and you do have some friends, Yugi and the gang like you, even though we're your brothers age we still consider you to be our friend." Tea replied, making Mokuba's face break into a grin. Tea laughed and let him hop to the floor. "There, much better." Tea smiled as she looked at Mokuba. Tea got up and went to the door, "Come on, we'll go and tell Seto about those bullies and get them sorted out." Tea said as she waited for Mokuba.

"Hey Tea, you called my brother Seto, don't you normally call him Kaiba?" Mokuba asked as they walked. Tea pretended she hadn't heard as they walked towards the stairs, _he's right; I did call him Seto._ she thought in shock.

 

* * *

 

"Where have you been? I've been worried!" Pegasus stated as Liviana entered the study, Bakura close behind. Pegasus was wearing his usual red suit and had his long silvery lilac hair flowing freely down his shoulders, covering one eye where the millennium eye had once been. His remaining eye narrowed as he looked at Liviana, the millennium eye clearly visible. "What happened? Who did this to you?" he demanded as he went to Liviana and put his arms around her. He then released her when he caught sight of Bakura, who stood timidly in the doorway. "You! What are you doing here?" he demanded as Bakura looked up from the floor shyly, he was wearing black leather trousers and jacket with a black T-shirt beneath it.

 

"He's with me." Liviana piped up from behind, causing Pegasus to turn in surprise.

"Well, he isn't staying. I want him out, now! And you are not to see him again!" Pegasus stated harshly. Bakura left with Liviana close behind, Pegasus watched from the stairs of his mansion as they went to the door, kissed and Bakura left. _Oh, Sahara, I knew that this would happen._ She thought as she leaned on the front door; **don't worry. He'll get used to the idea.**

 

* * *

 

"Here." Marik said as he handed Serenity a deck of forty-two cards. Serenity looked at the cards in confusion,

"What are these for?" she asked, she knew the game and had played it herself, but she didn't play at all, she had only played in the virtual world because she had been forced to.

"I take it you don't mean 'how do I use these?'." Marik said dryly. Serenity laughed and sat on the counter looking through the cards as Marik knelt on the floor behind the counter and put cards in the cabinet.

"No, I mean why have you given these to me? I don't play." She replied. Marik stood up with an empty cardboard box and began to peel the lids back to collapse the box.

"I thought you might like to start. Everyone else plays it." Marik replied as he took the now flat box into the storeroom and picked up another. Serenity looked at one of the cards, 'The forgiving Maiden.' This had been one of the first cards she had used and looking through she could see various other cards that she recognised from duels she had seen,

"Yugi had a card like this." She stated as she held up 'The Dark magician Girl'. Marik looked at the card and nodded absently, kneeling once again to place more cards in the cabinet.

"There are many cards like that one. There are few with limited numbers, and if you know where to look cards are easy to find." He said from the floor. Serenity continued to look through the cards until she found another one she liked.

"She's really pretty." She said as she looked at 'The Mystical Elf.'

 

* * *

 

"Hey, hey whoa Kaiba!" Joey shouted as Tristan helped him to pull Kaiba off Donny, one of the boys in homeroom. Kaiba had a cut lip and a bleeding nose and blood hit the pavement as he tried to get a Donny again.

 

"Get off me mutt!" Kaiba shouted as he tried to lunge at Donny again. Donny got up and stepped back a little as Kaiba broke free of Tristan, though he was still held by Joey.

"Kaiba! Cool it!" Yugi shouted as he came running up the path with Mai. Kaiba stopped struggling and glared at Yugi as he approached.

"What is going on?" Mai demanded as she stood with her hands on her hips and looked back and forth between Kaiba and Donny, who stood paralysed on the spot.

"Nothing that concerns any of you!" Kaiba snapped as he turned his attention back to Donny, who began shaking and backing away.

"Kaiba!" Mai shouted,

"Alright! He was picking on Mokuba so I thought I'd teach him a lesson!" Kaiba snapped. Joey stepped to Kaiba's side, releasing him, and glared at Donny,

"You were picking on Mokuba? Man, that is sick!" he said in outrage as he clenched his fist, Yugi also glared at Donny and Mai rolled the sleeve of her jacket back and took a step towards Donny.

"Is Mokuba ok?" Yugi asked. Kaiba nodded as he glared at Donny. There were suddenly footsteps approaching from behind and Derek stepped up,

"Hey Donny. Come on." He ordered. Kaiba rounded on Derek, feeling even more hatred surge through him, _why am I so angry? Is it because of Tea?_ He wondered, "Well, Mr. Kaiba. I didn't expect to see you here, by the way how is Tea?" he asked maliciously. Kaiba tightened his jaw to stop himself from starting a cursing match, _though I would be the victor._ Kaiba thought, "I hear Tea went blind, well she had to be to go and live with you and that weasel of a brother!" he joked. Kaiba snapped suddenly and dived at Derek, punching him repeatedly until Joey and Tristan pulled him off. Tea and Mokuba waked down the street and saw the commotion,

"Kaiba no!" Tea shouted as Derek pulled a knife and went at the restrained Kaiba with it. The knife slashed across his chest and made a shallow cut, nothing that would require a trip to the hospital. Tea ran over and knocked Derek to the ground before he could bring the knife back for a second try.

"You little slut!" Derek hissed as he got to his feet and took a swipe at Tea, only to be stopped by Mai's duel disc. He cried out as he hit the disc and dropped the knife. Tea picked it up and held it at him,

"Go away." she ordered as she held the knife threateningly. He nodded to Donny and they walked off,

"This isn't over bitch!" she shouted over his shoulder as he walked away. Tea turned back to Kaiba, who was doubled over with his arm across his chest, Mokuba stood beside him holding his shoulder,

"Seto, are you alright?" he cried, tears rolling down his cheeks. Kaiba put a hand on Mokuba's head and ruffled his hair as he straightened up and looked at Tea.

"I'm fine. Lets go." He said, making an effort not to let the pain show in his voice. Tea nodded and the three of them walked to Kaiba Corp where the limo waited for them.

 

* * *

 

"Telar?" Seth whispered as he looked at Telar. She had her back to him and he had his arm around her as they lay on her bed together. Her bare skin felt so soft on his chest,

 

"Hmm?" she asked, indicating that she was still awake. He leaned his head on her shoulder and took her hand gently,

"I love you." He whispered as he kissed her neck. She released his had and turned over to face him, her eyes still covered by the white linen cloth and the millennium necklace tied around her neck.

"Do you?" she asked. Seth smiled and kissed her deeply, feeling her arm go round his bare shoulders.

"What do you think?" he replied teasingly as he broke off. She smiled and gently pushed him onto his back, straddling his hips. He raised an eyebrow and looked out of the window at the pink sky, "Isn't it a little early for this?" he asked mockingly as she kissed his neck. She went up to his mouth and kissed him again,

"What does that tell you?" she whispered in reply as she gently slid forward and felt his hard member slide into her.

 

* * *

 

"Hold still." Tea ordered as she gently ran the hot cloth over Kaiba's cut chest. "Sorry." Tea replied as Kaiba hissed. Suddenly Kaiba slowly reached up a hand and gently took the hand holding the cloth to his chest, he turned his head to look at her face with it's covered eyes and leaned closer to her, kissing her warm lips gently, she responded almost immediately and was soon on top of him, straddling him as she kissed him deeply,

 

"Sorry." She apologised as she rolled off him. He sat up and coughed awkwardly,

"No, it was my fault. I shouldn't have…" he replied. She wrapped his chest in the bandages quickly but securely and let him leave her room. She sat on the bed and breathed deeply, _he kissed me,_ she thought in disbelief, running a hand over her lips.

 

* * *

 

 _What's wrong with me?_ Kaiba wondered as he threw himself onto his bed and buried his face in his pillow, not even bothering to change. _Why did I do that? It must be those dreams; they seem so real…bah! Egyptian nonsense!_ He scolded. He closed his eyes and fell into an uneasy sleep.

 

* * *

 

"Good. You've changed." Seth said coldly as he stepped into the dungeon where Telar had done as she was told and changed into the elaborately flowing white dress. _What am I doing here? I hate it when events don't show in order!_ Kaiba thought as he watched from the corner of the room. "Follow me." Seth ordered coldly, walking away and not bothering to see if she followed. Telar walked after Seth and followed him to the dungeons, she looked in horror at the blood stained torture devices. "What? Do you not like my torture chamber?" Seth mocked as he leaned against the wall and watched Telar looking at the various devices. Bakura stepped into the room and froze as Telar looked at him,

 

"Ryou! What are you doing here?" she asked in surprise. Marik stepped up behind him and looked at Seth,

"He works for me, a spy in the Pharaoh's palace. Marak, have you dealt with your sister yet?" Seth asked, Marak nodded in response and Seth smiled cruelly. Telar looked at him questioningly, "Now for you. What shall I do with you? Torture you and watch you bleed? No, you wouldn't scream loud enough…I know. Marak, Bakuda. Bring in the prisoner." Seth ordered, moments later Tristan was dragged into the room. He bled from many slashes across his chest and back; and wore only a white wrap for protection.

"Tryan no!" Telar cried as she ran towards him, but as she went by Seth grabbed her arm and pulled her back into his arms, holding her round the chest as she struggled and screamed. "No! Seth please, let him go!" she cried. Seth laughed as Marak and Bakuda tied Tryan to one of the tables on his back. He was too weak to struggle as they secured the bonds that held him, "Seth! Please. I'll do anything; I'll…give you my necklace. You can torture me, send me to the shadows, rape me, anything you like, but please let him go!" she begged as she turned to him and went to her knees. He looked down at her triumphantly; he dominated her now.

"Get up," he ordered. She got to her feet and looked at him, he raised his hands to her neck and untied the millennium necklace. Telar was blinded and tried not to show her fear and discomfort at this action. "Now, on your knees." He ordered. Telar knelt and bowed to him. Seth chuckled to himself and walked over to Tryan. He looked down at the dazed man, "Let him go, and bring her to main chamber." He said. Telar cried out in surprise as Bakuda pulled her up and guided her down a corridor to the main chamber, Seth's quarters. He sat on his bed and motioned for Bakuda to leave.

"Well. What do you wish of me?" she asked, trying to look in the right direction, but because he made to noise and she couldn't see she wasn't sure where to look.

"I want nothing of you. Here." He replied as he got up and tied the necklace around her neck again. She looked at him in confusion,

"What do you mean you want nothing? If you want nothing then why did you let Tryan go?" she asked. Kaiba watched in mild interest as his past self looked down at Telar, she was only a foot or so shorter than he was.

"I got what I wanted from you when you knelt before me. The only other use I have for you is a servant girl and companion." He replied. Telar locked eyes, well if she had had eyes that is what she would have been doing.

"Companion?" she asked in mild curiosity. Seth walked back to his bed and sat on the edge again,

"Yes. I have power, but no one who understands more than a few simple commands. Marak and Bakuda are useful as servants but useless for companionship, planning and understanding. I need some one who knows how to string words together in a simple sentence." He replied. Telar went over and knelt,

"If that is your wish then so be it. I will be your servant…and companion." She vowed.


	8. Chapter 8

"What's wrong?" Serenity asked as she turned over in the bed and watched Marik shaking. He turned to her and shook his head,

"Nothing, just withdrawals. They always get bad at this time." He replied, sweat glistening on his tanned skin. Serenity leaned forwards and kissed him, feeling him gently kiss back.

"Will you be alright?" she asked as she took his hand. He nodded and leaned on her shoulder.

"Yes. In a while…I'm tired." He whispered in reply. Serenity nuzzled his head with hers and pulled the covers tighter around her shoulders.

"Then go to sleep." She replied, still worried about Marik.

 

* * *

 

"What do you want?" Pegasus demanded as Bakura ran through the door and Liviana ran down the stairs to meet him as he ran up to her. He was wearing his biker gear and seemed to be in utter panic. Liviana was in a long white night dress as she hugged him tightly and Pegasus was still in his red suit, he had only just returned from a meeting at Industrial Illusions and was looking at the young lovers in agitation.

 

"Bakura, what is it?" Liviana asked as Bakura panted in exhaustion. He looked as if he had run all the way from his house or the park, his hair was tangled and windswept and the front of his T-shirt was drenched in sweat. He drew back and took a few deep breathes,

"Neo Ghouls. They're coming for you." He gasped as he bent over with his hands on his knees. Liviana looked to the door as Pegasus closed and bolted it. Bakura sank to the steps and sat down, pulling the gun from the inside pocket of his coat.

"Bakura!" Liviana exclaimed as he loaded bullets into the gun and pulled back the trigger, _told you this would come in handy._ Bakura said to Ryou, **I don't see why, you can use the ring to send them to the shadows!** He replied. Bakura sighed inwardly and got to his feet. "When are they coming?" Liviana asked. Bakura turned to reply when there was a loud bang on the door and Pegasus, who had heard the exchange, made no move to open it; in face he pulled a gun from his coat and pulled back the trigger. "Am I the only one that isn't armed?" she asked. Bakura turned to her and smiled. _Ryou, I think you should take over now._ Bakura thought, **you can handle it; trust me. If I think things are getting out of hand I'll step in.** he replied. Bakura looked at the gun and then at the door, this would be the first time he would fire the gun. His hand shook, "Max, I think you should get away from the door." Liviana said, as there was a crash on the door as if someone were trying to break through. Pegasus stepped back to the stairs and levelled the gun, ready to fire. The red double doors shattered and five Neo Ghouls entered, guns raised and ready to fire. Bakura pulled the trigger and watched in horror as one of the Ghouls fell to the carpet dead. The other four acted as if it had never happened and started towards them, firing badly aimed shots all the time.

"Up stairs now!" Bakura shouted as he turned and forced Liviana up the stairs. Bullets shot by as they ran to her room, the Ghouls went past Pegasus without firing a shot at him; they were here for one purpose only. Liviana went to her balcony with Bakura. "Can you make it to the pool from here?" Bakura asked as he looked down to the large circular pool below. Liviana looked down and climbed onto the ledge, holding a hand out to Bakura,

"There's only one way to find out." She replied as Bakura took her hand and stood beside her. They looked back as the door shattered and then jumped.

Pegasus ran out the front door to see ten other Neo Ghouls waiting. He raised his gun and fired at one of them, the target fell to the floor and he fired at another. Shots rang out across the front garden as Pegasus fired at them, running for the side gate. _Why have the come?_ He wondered as he dived through the side gate and swung it shut. He looked up to Liviana's balcony just as she and Bakura jumped, both of them falling towards the pool and landing with a splash in the dark water. The Neo Ghouls up stairs followed as Liviana climbed out of the pool, receiving a helping shove from Bakura.

"Liviana! Over here quickly!" Pegasus shouted as she got to her feet. Liviana ran to him as Bakura turned and punched one of the Ghouls in the face. The ghoul fell back as he heaved himself out of the pool and ran for the gate. Liviana reached her brother as Bakura slipped and fell back into the pool.

"Bakura!" Liviana cried. Pegasus looked in horror as Bakura, floating face down in the water, was pushed under by one of the ghouls. Pegasus handed the gun to Liviana and ran to the poolside; _what can I use as a weapon?_ He wondered looking around briefly before diving in and punching the ghoul holding Bakura in the face. The second ghoul was behind him and stabbed with a knife as Pegasus turned and deflected the blow, using the heel of his hand to break the ghoul's nose.

"Liviana, block the gate!" Pegasus shouted as he pulled Bakura, whose head was bleeding, to the edge of the pool and heaved him out. Liviana pulled a sun bed to the gate and used the head to block the gate handle before running to Bakura's side. Pegasus tested his pulse, "Damn." He hissed as he began pushing on Bakura's chest. Liviana knelt beside Bakura and cried as she looked at his lifeless body and Pegasus continued to push Bakura's chest. Pegasus heard a bang on the gate and looked up to see a Ghoul aim a gun at Liviana and fire. The bullet passed through her chest and rolled across the pool tiles.

"Liviana!" Pegasus cried as he crawled round to his sister. Looking at the gate he saw that the Neo Ghoul had gone and as he listened he heard no movement.

 

* * *

 

"How about this one?" Serenity asked as she held up a stronger card. It was Dunames Dark Witch, a girl who looked a little like Tea wearing a short white dress and knee high boots with large wings. She had eighteen hundred attack points and would easily beat his monster.

 

"That's more like it Serenity, you're really getting the hang of it now." Marik replied as he removed his card from the playing field and took off two hundred life points from the 3500 he had. Serenity brightened and turned over her magic card, Silver Bow and Arrow, which raised her monster's attack by three hundred.

"Marik, I didn't attack yet, I wanted to boost the attack first." She said. Marik looked at her cards in surprise and took off a further three hundred.

"You really are getting the hang of it." He exclaimed. Serenity closed her eyes and smiled sweetly, _I love it when she does that._ Marik thought as she scrunched up her nose a little. Marik sighed as he got off the bed and looked out of the window. Since he had started going out with Serenity and teaching her to duel he hadn't smoked any cigarettes…or anything else and he felt better than ever.

"Are you ok?" Serenity asked. Marik smiled and looked at her before looking down to the streets below.

"Never better." He replied. The streets were deserted; it was quite late so many people must have been asleep by then. _What's that?_ Marik wondered as he saw something move…it was getting closer, and it wasn't alone either. Marik squinted and saw a small army of cloaked figures that he would have known anywhere, Neo Ghouls, and they were heading towards the shop, "Serenity! Shut off the light and get under the bed!" he ordered as he closed and locked the window and pulled the curtains. When he turned to Serenity she was out of sight and the light was off. He reached down beside his side of the bed and grabbed the millennium rod before leaving the bedroom and heading for Yugi's room.

"Pharaoh!" he hissed as he opened the door. When he opened it he saw Yami sitting up in the bed, already dressed, though that wasn't unusual. Yugi often went to bed late and may have only just gone into the room.

"Something is coming." He said. Marik nodded as Yami stood and headed for the door. _What is it pharaoh?_ Yugi asked from the back of his mind, **I don't know Yugi, but whatever it is can't be good.** Yami replied. As they reached the living room there was a crash downstairs in the shop.

"They're here…Neo Ghouls." Marik replied to the questioning look on Yami's face. _Neo Ghouls? What do they want?_ Yugi wondered, **I don't know Yugi; perhaps it is the millennium puzzle.** he replied. There were footsteps heading towards them up the stairs. "Hide, quickly!" Marik hissed in the darkness of the living room. Yami nodded and crouched in front of the sofa while Marik stepped into a closet with gaps in the door like shutters so he could see out. Marik listened but heard nothing, he knew they were in the shop but the door to the flat hadn't opened yet… _what's taking them so long?_ Marik wondered nervously as he strained his ears… _what's that smell?_ Marik sniffed and almost choked, looking through the gaps in the door he could see the room filling with smoke. He saw Yami stand up and head for the closet, coughing as he got closer,

"Marik, it's a fire." He choked. Marik couldn't reply from coughing, he could feel the heat radiating through the walls, there was no way out, the windows were too high and the door was blocked by fire. _Shit, we're trapped!_ Marik cursed as Yami fainted. Marik coughed and choked as he stepped out of the closet and collapsed beside Yami, seeing the flames roaring in the doorway before his eyes closed.

 

* * *

 

Kaiba woke up when he heard her scream, flung the covers of his bed back and stumbled through the darkness, catching the blue silt shirt on the door handle as he went, cursing as the shirt ripped he continued to run down the hall.

 

"Seto, what's going on?" Mokuba asked in alarm as Kaiba passed him in the hall,

"Go back to your room." Kaiba ordered without answering the question. He looked through the darkness and saw a figure running towards him, it was Tea but something was wrong, she had her arms out in front of her to guide her as she ran and looked terrified. As she made contact with Kaiba's shoulders she screamed, "It's me, it's ok." Kaiba coaxed as he held her arms, she wasn't wearing the millennium necklace, though he could see it in her nightshirt pocket. He pulled it from the pocket and fastened it quickly round her neck,

"Kaiba, they're after me, they're here," Tea cried as she tried to continue down the hall, Kaiba stopped her by the arm as she passed,

"Who? What are you talking about?" Kaiba asked. The perimeter alarm would have gone off if anyone had broken into the grounds of the mansion, it was impossible for a Neo Ghoul to be in the mansion. Tea screamed as she looked over Kaiba's shoulder and as he turned he saw the cloaked figure running towards them with an upraised sword. Kaiba looked to the wall where there was a coat of arms hanging with two swords in it. He grabbed a sword and pulled it free, holding it defensively as the ghoul got closer.

"Kaiba, no!" Tea cried as he and the ghoul fought and Kaiba swung the sword skilfully as the ghoul tried to fend him off. Preoccupied with the fight and with the swords whistling Kaiba barely heard the gunshot.

"Tea!" Mokuba cried. Kaiba took his attention away from the fight and turned to see Tea sprawled on the carpet; if she was bleeding he couldn't see it on the dark red carpet. Kaiba turned back to his opponent to find the he had fled; and the mansion was filled with an eerie silence as Kaiba knelt beside Tea's body.

 

* * *

 

"Do you hear something?" Joey asked as he and Mai walked past an alleyway. Mai stopped and looked around, listening intently. She waited and suddenly heard a sharp intake of breath somewhere in the alley,

 

"Yes, it's coming from down there," she replied as she turned away from the light of the empty street with it's closed shops and dark buildings and looked down the cluttered alley.

"Wait here." Joey ordered as he raised his duel disc arm, ready to defend himself if he was attacked. Behind him Mai scowled and followed him,

"Who do you think you are? You can't order me around." She replied quietly as she walked by his side. Secretly Joey was glad he didn't have to go on his own, but he wouldn't let it show.

"Sh." He hushed as he peered deeper into the shadows. Looking ahead he saw a pile of white linen among the bins and black bags. He crept closer with Mai just behind. As he approached the pile of linen it moved. Joey stopped and put an arm back to signal Mai to stop. He continued forward and looked closer at the pile, it was a man, he had dark skin and a turban; _I know him! It's Shadi!_ Joey realised as he knelt down. "Shadi…Shadi, are you ok?" Joey asked as he laid a hand on Shadi's shoulder. Shadi groaned and looked back with his unfocused dark eyes. Joey saw a lot of water on the floor around him,

"Oh my god," Mai gasped as she looked over Joey's shoulder. Joey took a second look at the water and saw that it wasn't water at all; it was blood. The floor was soaked in blood, as was the front of the white robes.

"Mai, go call an ambulance!" Joey snapped as he looked closely at the front of the robes, where he could see numerous bullet holes, it was as if the shooter had been shooting blindly, there were holes in the arms, shoulders, chest, stomach, legs, everywhere, _shit, what a mess!_ Joey thought as he looked at Shadi.

"The…items…take-the-items." Shadi rasped. Joey looked around the alley in confusion and spotted something gold catch in the limited light from the street. He stood and walked over to it and found a smooth golden object. It was a pole with a 'T' on top with a ball on either end, each ball had an eye on it, _I know that eye; it's on Yugi's puzzle._ Joey thought as he held up the millennium scales. Joey looked down again and saw another object; it was gold and looked like a cross with a small square sticking out at the bottom, _the millennium key!_ Joey realised as he looked at it closely.

"Okay Shadi, an ambulance is on the way, just hold on." Joey encouraged as he knelt by his side.

"It is-too late…for me…protect-the-items." He ordered. Joey knelt lower as Shadi closed his eyes,

"Hey, stay with me Shadi, who did this to you?" he demanded,

"N-neo-ghouls." Shadi choked in reply. Suddenly his body lurched and he gasped before lying still.

"The ambulance is on its way." Mai announced as she ran into the alley. Joey reached down a hand and closed Shadi's blankly staring eyes before standing and turning to Mai.

"We were too late." He replied as he put the millennium key round his neck and put the scales in his belt. Mai sighed and let a single tear roll down her cheek as Joey walked out of the alley staring blankly ahead.

"There was nothing you could have-oh no, Yugi!" Mai gasped as she looked across the street where Yugi lived. There was smoke rising from behind the main street where Yugi lived,

"Come on, hurry!" Joey shouted as he ran across the street and down the alley. At the end of the alley was a T-junction with the shop opposite, it was on fire and a small crowd was gathered outside, "Serenity!" Joey cried as he ran into the burning building.

 

* * *

 

"Joey! Over here!" Tristan called from upstairs in the flat. Joey dodged through the flames and fallen beams from the roof and ran up the stairs. Inside the flat was unrecognisable, the flames had consumed Marik's room from underneath and smoke was thick in the air.

 

"Tristan, where are you?" Joey shouted as he pulled his white and blue T-shirt over his nose and peered into the blackness.

"Right in front of you. Duke has already got gramps out and I'm just on my way with Serenity now." Tristan replied as he stepped into Joey's line of sight carrying Serenity unconscious in his arms. Joey looked horrified at the sight of his helpless sister and stepped aside as Tristan went by.

"Where are Yugi and Marik?" Joey asked. He didn't catch all of Tristan's reply, but he thought he heard the word 'closet.' Joey stepped over to the closet and saw both Marik and Yami on the floor. "Marik!" Joey shouted as he crouched down. Marik's eyes were slightly open and he seemed to be moving a little. As Joey crouched Marik reached up and grabbed his shirt, pulling him closer.

"Get…the-pharaoh…out." He wheezed before falling back unconscious to the floor. Joey quickly grabbed Yami and pulled him over his shoulders before crouching and grabbing Marik's legs and dragging him to the stairs. At the stairs he put Marik in a sitting position and staggered down the stairs with Yami, putting him down at the door and then returned for Marik, who was slumped forward and about to fall down the stairs. "The-pharaoh…" he groaned as Joey pulled him onto his feet and staggered down the stairs with him as the roof collapsed in flames behind them.

"He's fine." Joey replied to Marik's continuous groans. Outside there were two ambulances, one containing Serenity and Grandpa while the other contained Yami, and was waiting for Marik.

"We'll take it from here, you'd better come with us." The paramedics said as they took Marik and ushered Joey towards an ambulance, where Tristan and Duke were waiting,

"My sis, let me go with my sis." Joey begged as they walked him towards Marik's Ambulance. The paramedic agreed and Joey climbed into the ambulance with his sister, who was half awake by mow.

"Marik!" she cried as Joey sat next to her. She looked at him with her watering eyes and Joey felt a great fury building within. _How could anyone do this?_ He wondered in hate and fury.

"He's fine sis, you just rest." Joey ordered. Serenity sighed in relief before closing her eyes and falling asleep.


	9. Chapter 9

"I don't want excuses! I want answers! I want to know how they got in the grounds and the mansion without any of you seeing them!" Kaiba shouted down the cell phone. Mokuba looked up in fear at his brother, _man, I've never seen him so angry…_ Mokuba thought as he watched his brother's scowling face. Mokuba looked at the closed door of the room where Tea had been taken. It had been over two hours since they had arrived with Tea, "Look, either get me some answers or start looking for a new job!" Kaiba snapped before closing the phone and punching the wall. Mokuba flinched as his brother stood and stared at his fist, still on the wall. Mokuba looked up as a nurse walked out of the room, "Well?" Kaiba demanded as she approached. The nurse looked a little timid as she looked up at Kaiba, whose cobalt eyes bore into her with a fury that could only be matched by the devil himself.

"The bullet went through her left shoulder, no real damage was done, but she's lost a lot of blood. We're giving her a transfusion now, so she should be fine in a couple of days." The woman reported. Kaiba nodded and she walked away. Mokuba looked up at his brother and saw him close his eyes and sigh in relief. Looking at his watch Kaiba knelt down with Mokuba, who sat on a chair opposite of Tea's room.

"Mokuba, it's long gone midnight. You should get some sleep." Kaiba said. Mokuba stifled a yawn as his brother pulled off his white trench coat, which he had put on over his blue pyjamas. Mokuba stretched out across two chairs and Kaiba draped his coat over him and watched as he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

"Kaiba boy!" a familiar and unwelcome voice said in surprise. Kaiba turned to see Pegasus in his usual red velvet suit looking at him in surprise. Kaiba indicated to be quiet and nodded towards Mokuba. Pegasus got the hint and walked closer, "What are you doing here?" Pegasus whispered, as he got closer. Kaiba nodded to Tea's room where he could hear the continuous beeping from the machine measuring her heartbeat.

"Tea was attacked by neo ghouls, they broke into the mansion without tripping one single perimeter alarm, you?" Kaiba asked. Pegasus nodded down the hall where people in critical conditions were taken to be resuscitated. Kaiba almost wished that he hadn't asked,

"My sister, Liviana, she was shot through the chest by a neo ghoul and Bakura was drowned in the pool." He replied. Kaiba sighed, he wasn't good at offering comfort, and he wasn't good with sympathy either. He thought about the ghouls, _what are they doing? Why those three? What linked them?_ He wondered. The ghouls didn't kill for no reason, there must have been some larger reason for it…

"Do you know if they're?" Kaiba began. Pegasus half smiled as he looked down the corridor,

"No…Liviana is being monitored and Bakura is being resuscitated now." He replied. Pegasus looked at Tea's door,

"What about?" he began,

"Shoulder wound, she'll be fine. She's having a blood transfusion now." Kaiba replied.

"COLD BLUE! COLD BLUE!" a male cried. Suddenly three nurses and two doctors ran by heading towards the critical ward. Pegasus and Kaiba took off after them to Liviana's room where the heart-rate machine was letting out a single low beep.

"Alright, get the pads." A doctor ordered as he injected something into her arm. A machine was pulled over from the corner of the room and the doctor took the two pads, "Three, two, one, clear." The doctor ordered as he gave a shock to Liviana's chest. Kaiba watched the doctor do this twice more before the heart rate machine gave a beep and showed that Liviana's heart was beating again.

"Thank the gods." Pegasus muttered as he looked through the window of the door at his sister's sleeping form. Kaiba turned as he heard footsteps walking up behind,

"Kaiba?" Joey asked in disbelief. Kaiba raised a startled eyebrow as he saw Mai, Tristan and Duke walking towards him. Mai scowled suspiciously as Duke and Tristan muttered to each other,

"What happened?" Kaiba asked and Joey looked startled for a moment,

"There was a fire at the shop. Gramps, Yugi, Marik and Serenity were brought here, that and Shadi was killed in an alley not far from there…you?" Joey asked. Kaiba and Pegasus each told their stories… _there has to be something linking these event, but what? Shadi…who is he? Ah! I remember; her was the Egyptian with the turban…how does he link with the others? But we don't even know if the ghouls were responsible for his death and the fire…lets assume they were. What were they after? They set the shop on fire; so it wasn't the cards and they didn't try to kill me so it isn't money…what could Serenity have of value to them? Nothing…what about the grandfather…nothing but the cards…wait! The millennium items! That's the only thing that could possibly link the attacks!_

 

* * *

 

"Marik? Marik!" Serenity cried as she woke up. Joey, who was sitting by her bedside and had been sleeping, looked around in alarm as his sister began to get up. Joey took her shoulder and gently pushed her back down.

"Sis, sis, he's alright, don't worry. You just rest there." Joey ordered. Serenity lay back and looked at Joey, who was still thinking about what to do. _I have two millennium items, Yugi still has his, Marik has his, Bakura and Liviana have theirs for now, and Tea has hers. They were obviously tryin' to kill all the owners of the items, and succeeded with at least one, but why didn't they take the item? Why go to all the trouble of killin' everyone if ya don't take what ya wanted in da first place, man, dis is makin' my head hurt!_

"Big brother?" Serenity asked. Joey didn't reply, he just hummed absently, "Where is Marik? Can I see him?" she asked. Joey heard what she said but it didn't register. _What if they were going to steal the items from the mortuary? Dead people's stuff has to be taken off somewhere…but dat is just sick! But they are Neo Ghouls and sick is definitely a word etched into their vocabulary._ Joey continued.

"I'll go see if Marik's up to visitors. You wait here." Joey ordered as he got to his feet and left the room, heading down to the next private ward. Joey opened Marik's door and saw that he was already awake,

"Serenity, is she?" Marik began as he sat up. Joey waved a hand as he closed the door.

"She's fine. Did you see who it was that set the shop on fire?" Joey asked as he sat in the chair beside Marik's bed. Marik was now sitting on the edge of the bed in white pyjamas eating some grapes.

"Yes, it was an army of Neo Ghouls heading over from the main street. I guess everyone else is here in some way aren't they?" Marik replied. Joey was glad he didn't have to explain the news to him. Joey nodded, "Who?" Marik asked. Joey didn't need him to specify; he knew what he meant.

"Shadi was killed. I found him in an alleyway just off the main street. He gave me two items. Bakura is in critical from drowning in Pegasus' pool and Liviana is in critical on life support from being shot through the chest, it's touch and go with her. Tea's in a private room with a shot in her shoulder and Yugi's down the hall with the same as you; a little smoke in the lungs. Serenity's ok, she got it less than you, but Yugi's Gramps…he was too old…the smoke got him. They thought he was going to be alright, but then he just…" Joey finished, coughing as his voice broke and wiping his eyes so that he wouldn't cry. Marik looked up solemnly,

"Does Yugi know?" he asked. Joey shook his head. "I must call Ishizu and Odion, they must be informed of this." Marik decided suddenly as he got out of the bed and headed for the door, Joey close behind.

"You sure you should be up?" Joey asked as they walked down the hall.

"I'm fine…you should be the one to tell Yugi about…"Marik replied. Joey bowed his head and turned to Yugi's room. Looking in he could see him sitting in bed reading a magazine while eating grapes. _What is it with grapes and hospitals?_ Joey wondered as he pushed the door open and went over to the chair by Yugi's bed.

"Hi Joey, I was wondering when you'd be along. Thanks for getting us out; I know Grandpa will be grateful too. Are Marik and Serenity alright?" Yugi asked. Joey nodded, not looking at his friend. "Have a grape." Yugi offered. Joey shook his head, finally getting the courage to tell him.

"Yugi, there's something I have ta tell ya." He began…

 

* * *

 

"Mokuba? What are you doing here?" Tea asked as she sat up, _man my shoulder hurts._ she thought. Her arm was in a sling so she had to use one arm to push herself upright.

 

"We came to make sure you were alright." He replied taken aback. Tea smiled and looked at the bedside clock, it was now about ten in the morning.

"Shouldn't you be in school?" Tea asked,

"That's what I said." A low voice said from the door. Tea turned from Mokuba and looked at the door where Kaiba stood with Pegasus. Kaiba entered and sat on the end of the bed while Pegasus stood by the door,

"What are you?" Tea began,

"Liviana and Bakura." He replied, not elaborating on it further.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" a voice cried in despair from down the hall. It sounded like a young boy; Kaiba got up and walked out into the corridor.

"Yugi, calm down." Joey cried,

"Calm down? Calm down? How can you expect me to be calm about this?" Yugi shouted in reply,

"Yugi I-"

"Go away!" Yugi replied, cutting across Joey. Joey stepped out of the room and saw Kaiba looking at him quizzically.

"Gramps died." He said emotionlessly before turning and walking away. Kaiba waited for Joey to go before heading to Yugi's door, _what am I doing?_ he wondered as he pushed the door open and stepped inside. Yugi had his face in a pillow and was crying silently,

"Go away Joey." He choked. Kaiba sighed and went to the head of the bed, "I said go a- Kaiba?" Yugi asked in confusion as Kaiba sat down silently and looked at his rival,

"I heard about your grandfather." He explained. Yugi suddenly got bitter and looked away,

"Why do you care? You almost gave him a heart attack once." He accused.

"I know, but I'm not here about that. I'm here to tell you to pull yourself together." Kaiba announced. Yugi turned on Kaiba,

"Pull myself together? I'd like to see how you'd cope with something like this!" he snapped. Kaiba smiled slightly, quite liking the arrogant, angry side of Yugi.

"But I have. About a year before Gozaburo adopted me my parents went missing. They aren't confirmed dead, but after all this time there isn't a lot of hope that they're alive. When they went missing I didn't cry because I thought they'd come back and when I realised that that wasn't the case I could have cried and sat in my room alone, but I didn't because I had Mokuba relying on me, just like you have people relying on you. Bakura is in critical, he needs you, Liviana is on life support, she needs you and, though I hate to say it, if we're going to get the ghouls then we all need you…I need you." Kaiba replied. Yugi sat as though transfixed as Kaiba looked him directly in the eyes,

"You're right…I'd better apologise to Joey…it wasn't his fault." Yugi replied. Kaiba smiled in satisfaction as he got to his feet and walked to the door,

"I'll go find the mutt." He replied,

"Kaiba…I'd just like to thank you for what you said and I'm sorry for what I said about you…it was uncalled for." Yugi apologised.

"Forget it." Kaiba replied as he left the room.

 

* * *

 

"Hi, are you ok?" a voice asked. Yugi, who was wearing his own clothes again, turned to see a girl behind him. She had long black hair with a fringe that almost went over her eyebrows. Her eyes were dark brown and looked at him in concern. Yugi was standing by the morgue,

 

"No, I mean yes, I mean, hi." He replied sadly. The girl's concern deepened then and she walked forward. She was a little shorter than Tea so Yugi came up to her chin. She wore a short purple skirt and jacket with matching boots and a black top. The skirt and jacket seemed to be made out of a sort of suede and Yugi had to stop himself from touching it to feel.

"What are you doing here?" she asked as she walked him to the wall at the side of the morgue.

"Well, I'm here because I was in a fire, that and a lot of my friends were hurt in other ways too." He replied. The girl looked up at the sign that read Mortuary and then looked back at Yugi,

"I meant here." She hinted looking up. Yugi looked up and immediately looked down.

"I, err, he…I came to see my grandpa…he wasn't as lucky as me." he replied as he looked at the floor. The girl's face warmed a little as she looked down at him.

"Do you need some company?" she asked. Yugi looked up in shock,

"Oh no, I couldn't possible ask you to, I mean I don't know you and, it wouldn't be fair and-"

"I'm Sabrina Pegasus. There, now you know me. Who are you?" she asked in reply.

"Yugi Muto, did you say Pegasus?" he asked. The girl nodded, "Then you must be Liviana's sister!" He concluded,

"No, I'm her step-sister. She was my mother's ex-husband's daughter. I'm from his second marriage, but Max and Liviana treated me like I was their own, even when my dad died." she replied. A nurse walked out of the morgue and looked around a moment before spotting Yugi,

"Are you ready?" she asked. Yugi nodded and went to walk away when he felt Sabrina take his hand,

"No, honestly, you should go and see-"

"Later." She replied, not letting go of his hand.

 

* * *

 

"Where's Yugi?" Marik asked as he entered Serenity's room and sat beside her on the bed. Joey looked up from where he had been looking through his sister's deck.

 

"He went to see his Grandpa, you know…" he trailed off. Marik just nodded and looked solemnly,

"God sis, where did you get all these cards? A lot of them I haven't seen before, they seem to be…I don't know…" he asked as he handed the deck back to Serenity. Serenity took them and smiled at Marik,

"They're Egyptian, Marik bought them with him from Egypt and built my deck with them." She replied as she put the deck in a plastic case. Marik watched her and smiled when she looked up,

"I'm sorry about this." He said. Joey and Serenity looked quizzical for a moment, "This is all my fault. I should have told you to get out when I saw them coming, if I had then maybe Mr. Muto would still be here." Marik replied. Serenity sat up and put her arms around Marik, pulling him into a loving embrace,

"There was nothing you could have done, how do you know that they wouldn't have come after us if we had left? There was no way we would have left without them seeing us, and at least the rest of us are still alive. Have you seen Ishizu yet?" Serenity asked, changing the subject. Marik nodded as he sat up straight,

"Yes, this afternoon. She and Odion are arranging the transportation of Shadi's body to Egypt for his burial." He replied. Joey thought back to the last time he saw Shadi. The millennium items were still in his backpack, which he kept with him so they didn't go missing. _I'm gonna kill those ghouls when I get hold of them!_ He thought angrily,

"Joey, what's that glowing in your bag?" Serenity asked. Joey looked down and saw a gold light coming from the zip. He pulled the zip and reached in, it was one of the items, the millennium key. Joey held the item up and it glowed brighter before the light slowly died. _That was weird._ Joey decided,

"Joey, I believe you should keep the key. It seems that it has chosen you for its new keeper." Marik said. Joey held the item before putting it round his neck, somehow feeling that it belonged there. _This day is just getting weirder._ He thought.

 

* * *

 

"I thinks he's waking up!" A voice said excitedly. There were footsteps and a shout outside before another set of footsteps entered the room. Bakura struggled to open his eyes a few times before they actually opened. He blinked a couple of times and saw a feminine face looking down at him. He tried to speak, but just coughed.

 

"Hey, stay still and don't try to speak." The woman said. Bakura blinked, trying to get his eyes to focus. Everything was a blur. There were three vague shapes. Bakura blinked a few more times and the shapes took form. Tea, who had one arm in a sling, sat by his bed, holding his right hand, Kaiba, who had been the voice in the corridor, was leaning on the wall by the door and the third was a nurse who was standing by the bed checking his heart rate and drip bag. He had an oxygen mask over his nose and mouth and a drip connected to his hand by a needle.

"He's out of danger now, we should try to get him to eat something soon." The nurse said. Tea nodded and the nurse left and suddenly there was another in the room on his left. Bakura looked up at Ryou, _where is she Ryou?_ Bakura asked. Ryou looked sadly at him and looked at Tea, who couldn't see him, **I suggest you ask her; I haven't the heart to speak it aloud.** he replied before disappearing once again. Bakura shifted his gaze to Tea,

"W-Where is she?" he managed to choke before going into a coughing fit. Tea helped him to sit up and helped him drink some water. Tea looked at Kaiba, who slipped silently out of the door.

"Bakura, something happened after you were pulled out of the pool." She began.


	10. Chapter 10

"Thank you…for coming with me today." Yugi said as he and Sabrina rounded a corner on their way to check on Liviana. Sabrina look at Yugi and smiled,

"That's fine, really, and thank you for coming with me to see my sister." She replied as they reached the door. Yugi smiled and pointed to the door, where they could see Pegasus sitting by the bed, his eyes locked on the sleeping form of Liviana as he held one of her hands in both of his.

"Well, I guess you should go in. I don't like to intrude." Yugi said as he opened the door and held it for Sabrina with his foot. Sabrina smiled grimly at Yugi before stepping inside.

"Sabrina!" Pegasus said in surprise as he turned in his chair to see her standing there. Sabrina walked forward and was pulled into an embrace. Yugi smiled to himself before shutting the door and walking away.

 

* * *

 

"I have to see her." Bakura stated as he swung his legs over the side of the bed. Tea's eyes widened and she used her good arm to try and push him back down gentle, but he swatted the hand away and edged forward to the edge of the bed,

 

"Kaiba! Get a nurse!" Tea shouted. Bakura ripped the needle from his hand, making it bleed. He got to his feet unsteadily and put one hand on the wall for support while he got used to being on his feet again.

"What do you think you're doing!" the nurse said firmly as she walked in. Bakura looked at the nurse momentarily before walking slowly to the door, half leaning on the wall. The nurse barred his way, "Where do you think you're going? Get back to bed at once!" she ordered. Bakura hardened his gaze, _Ryou; I have to see her._ Bakura said, and Ryou silently agreed, taking control of his body.

"Remove yourself from my path." He ordered firmly. The nurse looked taken aback but stood firm, "Allow me to make myself clear. Remove yourself from my path, or I shall remove you myself." He replied calmly. The nurse still remained,

"Now, enough of that, back to bed at once." She ordered. Ryou sighed and pushed her out of the way roughly, forcing her into the wall behind. _Was that entirely necessary?_ Bakura asked. **Did you want to see Liviana or not?** He replied. Bakura said nothing but allowed Ryou to continue on his way. Unlike Bakura, Ryou could now walk without holding onto the wall. He turned through two corridors before reaching Liviana's room. Pegasus and a girl with long black were already inside. Ryou allowed Bakura to take control once again and he sagged against the wall.

"Bakura? What are you doing here? Last I heard you were still asleep!" Pegasus said. Looking at him Bakura could see that Pegasus had not slept in days, he had large bags under his eyes and his hair was lacking in its usual neat shine.

"I came to see her." Bakura replied. The girl, who had been sitting in the seat by the bed, got up and helped Bakura to sit down. "Thank you lady." Bakura replied. The girl nodded and walked to the foot of the bed where she stood with Pegasus. Liviana had a drip, heart monitor and a few other wires linked to her. Bakura took her hand and looked at her. "What happened?" he asked.

"She was shot. It missed her lungs and heart, but the doctors do not believe she will wake up. They said if she were going to wake up at all she would have done it by now." He replied sadly. Bakura felt a tear fall down his face as he looked back to Liviana. Though her eyes were closed Bakura could see she was wearing her millennium eye. **Bakura! You can save her still! It's not too late!** Ryou said. _Tell me and I'll do it._ Bakura replied. **You must go into the shadows of her mind and find her. The ring can send you.** Bakura looked down at the millennium ring for a moment before gripping it with one hand, _send me into her mind! Please!_ He half ordered and half begged, willing the shadows to claim his mind. It felt as if he were floating out of his body and then he was surrounded by shadows, the pain of his body was gone, he could see why Liviana would retreat to this place.

"Where do I start?" he wondered aloud as he looked around,

"Well, you could always hitch a ride." A familiar voice said beside him. Looking to his right Bakura saw Ryou. They were now separate.

"I didn't know you were coming." Bakura said,

"What, you think I would let you go wandering around in the shadows alone? I think not." Ryou replied before whistling loudly. Looking up Bakura saw a vague shape, a huge shape. The shape soon took the form of the Red-eyes Black Dragon. "Like I said, lets hitch a ride." Ryou replied. Bakura only now noticed that they were back in their usual light blue trousers and jacket with a blue and white striped top beneath. Once the dragon landed Bakura approached uneasily and climbed onto the back while Ryou hopped lightly behind. "We are seeking two woman, youthful as we are with light lilac hair. We need your speed and eyes my friend." Ryou ordered. The dragon gave a roar and took to the black sky.

 

* * *

 

"What happened?" the nurse demanded as she entered Liviana's room where Bakura was slumped in the chair, leaning on the bed. Tea was close behind in the doorway,

 

"I don't know, he just passed out." Sabrina replied in worry as the nurse checked for a pulse and shook him. Bakura's body remained as it was; empty.

"He's gone to find her." Tea whispered to Kaiba who stood beside her. Kaiba didn't even pretend to understand what she was saying, but he guessed it had something to do with the millennium necklace.

 

* * *

 

"There, I think I see something." Bakura said pointing to the ground. Below they could see two humanoid figures sitting together. The dragon dived suddenly and landed beside the figures,

 

"Liviana?" Bakura asked as he slid down from the dragon.

"Bakura!" She cried in reply, throwing herself into his arms. Ryou waited on the dragon impatiently; Sahara joined him.

"Come, we must leave this place." He called, though he felt that they were already too late. Bakura turned and looked into the sky, thinking he had heard something. "Oh…damn!" Ryou cursed and the three blue-eyes white dragons soared into view. Bakura turned and looked back at his Yami,

"What is it?" he asked. Liviana let out a scream as one of the dragons swooped down at her,

"That is, now come on! Hurry! We have to get out of their territory!" Ryou replied pulling Sahara up so she sat in front of him. Bakura pulled Liviana towards the black dragon and boosted her up before jumping up himself. "Hurry my friend we must fly!" Ryou shouted. The black dragon needed no encouragement and took to the sky as fast as it could.

 

* * *

 

The shadowed figure slipped silently into Bakura's room, the millennium ring was round his neck in plain view. He reached out and touched the ring,

 

"I don't think so." Kaiba said before hitting the figure over the back with a chair. He stepped out from behind the door and Tea walked into the room, "That necklace comes in handy." Kaiba observed as he pushed the cloaked figure into a chair. Pulling back the hood a young face was revealed. Definitely a ghoul.

"Your suspicions were right, he was after the millennium items, that's why they attacked us, to make sure that all of the items were close together…" Tea said. Kaiba looked darkly at the boy's face, he was familiar…"There are others, but I think Yugi and Joey can handle them." Tea added.

 

* * *

 

"That's the last of 'em Yug." Joey announced as he dumped a final ghoul into the janitor's closet. _Boy, is he gonna have a surprise._ Joey thought as he closed the door. Yugi looked around, they hadn't been seen.

 

"We still have to find a way to stop them, Once and for all." Yugi replied. Joey nodded in agreement and was about to speak when there was a call from the end of the corridor.

"Yugi!" Sabrina called as she ran to meet them. As she drew closer Joey felt something odd about her, the same feeling he had when he was with Marik, Yugi and Tea. _This is weird._ He decided as he picked up his bag from the floor, but he felt the feeling increase as he did so. _What now?_ He wondered as he opened his bag. He reached in and pulled out the millennium scales, which were alight. Sabrina suddenly went quiet, "You found them." She observed. Joey looked at her in shock,

"You knew about these?" he asked as he held the scales up. She nodded,

"Yes, I was their keeper, but my Yami was too strong, I had no control. She would have taken over and done…terrible things, so I threw them away…but the last I knew Shadi had them, and he is the keeper of the key that you have round your neck, I can only now assume that something has happened to him." She replied. Joey nodded and told her what had happened to him,

"You have to take them, you're their keeper. Even Bakura didn't refuse his responsibility." Joey said,

"Bakura didn't know what I know, and his Yami was not as evil hearted." She replied. Yugi took her hand, seeing her discomfort.

"I know its hard, but I'll be here for you, if something happens I'll sort it, will you at least try? We need all the help we can get!" Yugi begged. Sabrina grudgingly agreed and took the scales, transforming at once into a young woman with wavy hair in a ponytail and dark rims around the eyes as if she had been heavy in applying black eye liner.

"Fools! You should have heeded her warnings! And now you shall pay!" the woman cried in a deep voice. Yami, who grabbed her wrist as she made to raise it, immediately replaced Yugi.

"I don't think so." He said assertively. The woman turned to look at him, first in anger, but then in surprise,

"Atem." She said, Yami's eyes widened and he dropped the hand, suddenly seeing a name in his head along with many memories,

"Serena!" he exclaimed, and suddenly he was pulled into an embrace and long lasting kiss,

"Hey, break it up!" Joey ordered, the two came apart, "What is goin' on?" he demanded. Sabrina went on to explain, using her ancient memories to do so…

 

* * *

 

Serena was a young woman, new in Egypt. She worked as a servant for the Pharaoh and his new wife, Telar, whom he had been betrothed to. Telar and her husband loved each other deeply, but not in the way of lovers, more as friends who have been together many years. One day Serena had lost her temper, it was an easy thing to do in the palace with the guards leering at her all day. One guard had gone too far, she had somehow made him disappear.

 

She had had the scales with her as always, they had been passed down through her family for many generations. She had not meant for him to go, she had just thought it, but he had gone. Serena had been taken before the Pharaoh, who had always known of the scales. He took pity on her and ordered it to be forgotten, much to the horror of the remaining guards, who decided to stay away from her from then on. Serena felt indebted to the Pharaoh and stayed close to him, knowing she was more powerful than a mere guard.

Things had gone well until they had realised that they were in love and had started seeing each other. Telar didn't suspect, in fact there were rumours of her going away at night and returning in the morning, though none knew where she went they could all guess what she was doing sneaking about, but when the Pharaoh found that his wife had betrayed him, he had gone to Seth, the other man, and declared battle. After the battle Atem had wedded Serena, declaring Telar dead and Seth disposed of, though a few weeks later both Seth and Telar returned and were allowed to continue their lives.

 

* * *

 

"Wow, that's some story…so does this mean you're not going to take over the world?" Joey asked nervously eyeing Serena.

 

"I was never going to take over the world, I was just going to any length possible to find Atem. I thought him to be dead, and here I find him hiding among humans as I do." She replied, still holding Yami in her arms.

"Right well, I guess that makes up the seven, but we still have to wait and see what happens with Bakura and Liviana…" Joey replied falling silent at the thought of his friends.

 

* * *

 

"How do we get out of here?" Bakura asked, holding on for his life as the dragon dodges lightning bolts from the white dragons that pursued them.

 

"Jump!" Ryou replied. Bakura looked back at his Yami in alarm,

"Are you crazy?" he demanded as a vortex opened beneath them. Ryou replied by jumping, followed by Sahara.

"Liviana, take my hand." Bakura said as he crouched uneasily on the dragon,

"I can't!" Liviana replied as she looked down at the black vortex,

"We have to, we'll be stuck here forever if we don't!" he replied as I bolt of lightning flashed by, almost sending him falling into the vortex,

"Hurry, its closing!" Bakura said in alarm, as the black hold got smaller. Liviana gripped his hand and they both jumped, hoping the vortex would still be open when the got to it.

 

* * *

 

"Bakura?" Liviana breathed quietly as she opened her eyes. She blinked in the sudden light until a face came into focus, "Bakura?" she asked again, but it wasn't him,

 

"No, it's Max." Pegasus replied taking her hand. Just then the door opened and another figure approached the bed, a figure she knew instantly,

"Bakura!" she exclaimed suddenly feeling a huge pain in her chest and gasping suddenly. Bakura sat down and took her hand as a nurse and doctor entered, astonished that she had woken up. "We made it." She sighed as she looked at Bakura, who nodded in reply.

"Get some sleep, I'll stay here all night if that's what it takes to keep you safe." Bakura promised. Feeling reassured Liviana closed her eyes and tried to sleep.

 

* * *

 

"Telar, I have-" Seth began, but Telar cut him off,

 

"You have fallen in love with another." She finished. Seth looked at her in surprise, not fully understanding the power of her necklace. He nodded, knowing she could somehow see in her blindness.

"Her name is Kisara, she is a peasant girl I met in the village…but I also love you. It is not a choice that I can make, for I love you both…" he replied. Telar smiled sadly and looked at her lover, touching his face lightly,

"Then I shall choose. I shall return and marry the Pharaoh, as I was born to. You know I was betrothed to him, so it is the best choice." She replied. Seth looked at her desperately,

"But I love you, I don't want to lose you." He said as he took her in his arms. She smiled again and kissed his lips gently,

"I will always be here." She whispered as she placed her hand on his chest, and suddenly Seth felt as if an imprint had been left in his heart and he smiled at the thought of a piece of Telar being placed in his heart.

"Thank you." He said before kissing her and watching her leave.

 

* * *

 

"What is wrong?" Kisara asked a week later. Seth was at the door of his home looking out towards the palace, he sighed as he turned back.

 

"Nothing." He replied, though she knew it wasn't true.

"Go and see her." Kisara said, she had known about Telar and had spoken with her on various occasions in town, though Seth knew nothing of it.

"It is her wedding day." He said as if he hadn't heard her.

"Then go and wish her well." Kisara insisted as she put his cloak over his shoulders. Seth smiled and kissed her gently,

"I love you." He said before leaving. Kisara smiled to herself and was surprised when Telar entered the hall.

"Is Seth present?" she asked, looking different now that she wore a golden head dress, it was merely an hour before the wedding,

"No, he just left." She replied, suddenly an inner door opened and three soldiers stormed through with Seth's father,

"Kill her!" he ordered in rage. Kisara gasped and Telar could only watch as Kisara was surrounded,

"I order you to stop!" Telar shouted as she ran forward, pulling one of the soldiers back,

"I shall release the power of the dragon for my son, and you'll be next phoenix!" Seth's father shouted. Telar was pushed down and watched in horror as the guards killed Kisara.

"No!" she cried as Kisara's body fell to the floor. Seth's father approached her with his sword drawn,

"There is much power in you, not a dragon's power, no, yours is far more ancient and powerful, with you my son is guaranteed to become Pharaoh!" he shouted as he swung his sword down to stab her,

"No!" a voice cried. Suddenly the sword flew away and turning Telar saw Seth with the millennium rod in the doorway. "What have you done?" Seth demanded in rage as he saw Kisara's body, blood in her white hair and her bright blue eyes now lifeless.

"I have done what had to be done." His father replied. At that Seth's rage grew and he ran forward, plunging the millennium rod into his fathers stomach, making sue he was still alive, a sudden power built up in Seth and behind him Telar saw a white dragon with Kisara's eyes appear as a shadow.

"Leave him, do not help him." Seth ordered as he turned away from his father. The guards left the room; they knew that they had been dismissed. Seth knelt by Kisara and held her to his chest. "I am sorry." He whispered to Kisara. He let a tear fall before feeling a hate and rage build up; it was the Pharaoh's fault that this had happened. He had stolen both of the women whom Seth had loved, Kisara had been killed because of him and he was going to marry the other.

"Seth, do not do this." Telar ordered. Seth turned to her and felt all anger fall away. He got up and went to her, pulling her to her feet.

"I need you." He said as he looked into her eyes,

"And you have me." she replied before kissing him.

 

* * *

 

Kaiba woke up in his house, in his bed, with Tea lying beside him. He put an arm round her before turning away and getting out of the bed. He wore his silk pyjamas and still had the picture of his brother round his neck, he went to his desk and picked up the blue eyed white dragon cards from the top of his deck, _Kisara…_ he thought to himself, he was sure that she didn't exist in this world, but the cards had pulled at him all his life. _At least this time I don't have to choose._ He mused before putting the cards back on his deck.

 

"She will always be with you." Tea said as she put her arms around him from behind. He started, he hadn't heard her approach, but he knew because of what she had said that she had had the same dream,

"I love you." He said as he turned round and kissed her, knowing now that it was true and not caring if it was fate and he wasn't in control of his destiny, right now all he cared about was the woman he held.

"Come back to bed." Tea ordered before kissing him again.

 

* * *

 

"You betray me, my wife. You deceive me." The Pharaoh said as Telar entered the front of the palace. She had known this was coming, after all the months of her disappearing she had known he would find out.

 

"No more than you betray me, my husband." She replied as she looked at the black haired servant girl, Serena. The Pharaoh back handed her across the face,

"How dare you accuse me!" he shouted, mainly for the benefit of the guards, who were not accustomed to having a weak Pharaoh. Telar said nothing, "I will have business with him! Who is he?" the Pharaoh demanded, taking Telar's shoulders, roughly,

"It is I!" Seth shouted from the doorway. The Pharaoh looked at him in shock, "I will take your challenge and have vengeance for the wrongs you have done me!" Seth shouted. Telar looked at him pleadingly, but he didn't look at her, his eyes were fixed on the Pharaoh.

"Very well. At dawn." The Pharaoh replied.

"At dawn." Seth replied.

 

* * *

 

"Seth, please don't do this." Telar begged. Seth wore a priest out fit, a long white wrap with a long black cloak and a dark headdress with gold ornamentation. Telar was wearing a long, flowing white dress made of a thin net type of material and she wore a thin golden hoop on her head with the millennium necklace at her throat and around her eyes was a white piece of cloth.

 

"I will have my revenge against the Pharaoh!" Seth declared as he held the millennium rod to the sky, looking at Telar coldly. Telar cried and turned away from him,

"Please, I beg you, don't do it." She begged as she turned back. Seth looked at her even more icily as he approached her and towered above her,

"Why do you care?" he demanded. Telar looked away and walked out of the alley, when she was near the end she turned back.

"Because I love you." She replied before walking off, leaving a very confused Seth in the alley. He didn't know why she didn't understand; once he had had revenge and the Pharaoh was out of the way they could be together.


	11. Chapter 11

Three months later…

"Are you sure you can manage?" Bakura asked as Liviana walked into the kitchen to get a drink. _Jesus Christ!_ she thought as she turned the tap on and filled a glass.

"Bakura, I'm fine, honestly." She replied as she turned around to come face to face with a very worried Bakura. He put his arms around her and nuzzled her forehead,

"I'm sorry, but I just don't want you to over do it…I hate thinking about what would happen if y-" he began before being cut off.

"Don't think like that." She replied before kissing him gently. Bakura's hug tightened slightly, causing her to hiss in pain,

"Sorry, are you…did I hurt you?" he rephrased, knowing that if he said 'are you alright?' once more then Liviana would go mad. Liviana breathed deeply and rubbed her bandaged chest,

"Fine…just a bit sore." She replied after a moment. Liviana was in Bakura's house that day, she was going mad with her brother, though Bakura wasn't much better; he was too worried. "Why haven't they attacked again?" she asked as she looked out of the kitchen window into the garden, feeling that they could attack at any moment. Bakura put a hand on her arm and turned her to him.

"I don't know, but next time they come I'll be here for you…I promise." He replied before kissing her. Liviana reached up and put her arms around him, pulling him closer.

"Come on, let's go sit on the couch." Liviana said, breaking away and picking up her water. Bakura took her hand and followed behind. Liviana sat on the couch and put the television on, there wasn't much on, just the usual daytime programmes so she turned it off. "Now what can we do?" she asked innocently, stroking Bakura's leg gently. Bakura suddenly went quiet and felt awkward, knowing what she was hinting at. _I'm not ready for this._ He thought to himself. **Still?** Ryou laughed, **you're never going to do it if you go on like this, stop being a wimp!** Ryou ordered. Bakura still felt awkward and scared,

"Liviana I-" he began, but Liviana had kissed him and stopped him from speaking. Bakura suddenly felt a little more relaxed and found his hands wandering, stroking her back as he felt her push him down on the sofa. Now he was on his back he felt her lying on top of him, her breasts pushing his chest as she straddled his hips. "Stop! I don't want to hurt you." He said as he pushed her back and held her by the shoulders, she smiled sweetly down at him,

"You won't." she replied before gently moving his arms and laying down. Her hand stayed at his chest for a moment before moving lower, Bakura gasped as she gripped his crotch gently, making him feel very vulnerable all of a sudden. He felt her legs move away as she went to lay beside him, "Do it." She ordered in a whisper, Bakura felt foolish, what was he supposed to do? **Just go with what your body does.** Ryou replied to the silent question. Bakura sighed inwardly before rolling over so that Liviana was beneath him. He kissed her as he gently pried her legs apart, receiving no resistance as he did so. He felt Liviana unbuttoning his jeans before pulling them and his boxers down. He felt her stroke his hardness and moaned, moving his hand beneath her loose skirt he felt she had already removed her underwear. As he pushed into her Liviana gasped and wrapped her legs around him, pulling him closer to her. He massaged her breast with one hand while he leaned on the other for support and kissed Liviana as he thrust into her with a steady rhythm, listening as her gasps became more urgent until she pulled him lower by his neck,

"Faster," she moaned. Needing no more encouragement Bakura quickened his thrusts, feeling his own pleasure heighten, until her gasps turned to moans that steadily grew louder, Bakura found that he too was moaning, and he hadn't realised that he had been doing it. He felt a great pleasure build up, until he climaxed, not slowing his pace until he felt Liviana climax, arching her back and gasping loudly as she did.

"Are you alright?" Bakura panted as he pulled out of her. Liviana smiled and nodded, pulling him down for a kiss, **good lad, I never knew you had it in you!** Ryou said from the back of his mind. Bakura moved and lay down beside Liviana with his arm over her stomach. "I love you." He whispered in her ear,

"And I you." She replied before closing her eyes and falling to sleep with Bakura behind her.

 

* * *

 

"What are they doing?" Sabrina wondered as she looked out of her window, looking across the vast grounds over her bother's mansion. Yugi put an arm around her as he came to stand beside her,

 

"I don't know, but they must be planning something big." He replied. Sabrina nodded in agreement.

"You're right Pharaoh." A voice said behind them. They both turned quickly to see Marik standing there. Yugi and Marik were staying with Pegasus until the shop was fixed. "I used to retreat for months at a time to re-think strategies, but they will attack soon. I can feel it." He replied. Yugi nodded in agreement, the waiting was nearly over. Marik unhooked the millennium rod and handed it to Yugi. "Here, give this to Kaiba, he will take it." He said. Yugi took the rod and looked at Marik, knowing what he was going to do,

"You can't leave now, we need you!" Yugi said urgently, Marik smiled and looked down at Yugi,

"My part here it done. It is up to Kaiba to finish the job, not I." He replied. Yugi nodded and watched as Marik left, knowing he had gone to see Serenity to say goodbye.

 

* * *

 

"Serenity." Marik said as he opened the door to his room, she sat where he had left her sitting on the bed. She looked up at him sadly,

 

"You're leaving aren't you." She said, he nodded and turned away to look out of the window,

"I understand your commitments here, but…you could…I mean, I'd be honoured…will you…maybe…come with me?" he asked finally, looking at her in the reflection of the window. She got up and went to stand beside him,

"Yes." She replied without hesitation. Marik looked at her in astonishment,

"But what about your brother, your school…" he added. Serenity shook her head and put her arms around Marik,

"I'd rather be with you. We can go now, no one needs to know, I can call Joey when we're far away and he can't stop us, I want to be with you." She said. Marik smiled down at her before kissing her gently,

"Come on, you don't need to bring anything, we have to leave now. Joey will be here soon, come on." Marik said excitedly as he and Serenity ran hand in hand to the door. They fled down the stairs and got outside where Marik had left his bike, they climbed on and Marik rode away, heading for the port where his sister was waiting for him on their boat.

 

* * *

 

"You know I don't believe in any of this crap." Kaiba said as Yugi put the millennium rod on his desk in the Kaiba Corp. office. _I knew this would happen._ Yugi said inwardly, **keep trying. Marik knew what he was saying.** Yami insisted.

 

"I know, but surely you must know that these are what the ghouls want, and if we use the items we can beat them, we need you Kaiba, you're the only one who can handle the millennium rod now that Marik's gone." Yugi insisted. Kaiba sighed and picked up the rod, instantly being thrown into a dream.

 

* * *

 

The Blue-eyed White Dragon was facing the Dark Magician across a desert in Egypt. The Pharaoh stood behind his Magician and Seth was behind his dragon and various in lookers watched transfixed.

 

"White Lightening attack!" Seth shouted,

"Dark Magic attack!" the Pharaoh responded. Suddenly a ball of white light and a ball of black magic flew across the sands creating a sand storm.

"Both of you just stop!" a female cried. Seth and the Pharaoh cried out as Telar ran onto the field and stood between the attacks, disappearing in a ball of bright light that looked like an explosion. As the sand cleared Seth ran forward, his monster disappearing and the Pharaoh also ran forward, the magician fading away. Seth fell to his knees by Telar and cradled the upper half of her body in his arms, she was limp and the cloth over her eyes prevented anyone from seeing whether her eyelids were open of shut, but it wouldn't have made any difference. Seth touched her mouth and waited,

"She doesn't draw breath." He cried, the Pharaoh then fell to his knees, his expression dark,

"What have we done?" he said vacantly as he looked at Telar's body.

 

* * *

 

Kaiba released the rod and left it on the table, it had shown him a dream, but was it significant? _So far a lot of those dreams have come true, what if this one comes true? What will happen to Tea? I can't let her get killed, but what if I don't have a choice?_ Kaiba thought in a panic,

 

"Hey, Kaiba? Are you ok?" Yugi asked in concern, Kaiba had been sitting staring blankly into space for about five minutes, _what did he see?_ Yugi wondered.

"The battle will be on the beach…soon…very soon." Kaiba said, somehow certain of what was going to happed, and suddenly Mokuba ran in with an envelope,

"Seto, this came for you." He said as he handed the letter to his brother. Kaiba tore the envelope open and read the letter,

"We will meet them on the beach at six O'clock to duel. The winners keep the items and the losers will remain in the shadow realm for all eternity." Kaiba said once he had read the note. Yugi looked out of the window, the sea was about half an hour away, it would be easy to pick everyone up on the way, but he didn't want everyone to go with them. **They have to come Yugi; it is necessary.** Yami said. _I know, but it doesn't make it any easier._ Yugi replied.

 

* * *

 

"Are you okay?" Kaiba asked as he and Tea walked towards the beach. It was almost time for the meeting and Tea had been unusually quiet. She looked up at him smiling,

 

"Fine." She replied; making it obvious that something was wrong. Kaiba stopped and turned her towards him,

"What is it?" he asked, she looked away and turned back to answer when Derek approached them from behind Kaiba.

"She misses having a real man in her bed." Derek replied. Kaiba turned and darkened his gaze while Tea held him back by the arm,

"You'll have your chance." She whispered in his ear. Kaiba stayed as he was and allowed Derek to pass. Derek headed towards the beach where Kaiba could already see six other ghouls as well as Yugi, Sabrina and Joey. Liviana and Bakura were just walking down the steps as Derek arrived on the beach and Tea followed with Kaiba.

"Well, now we're all here, let's begin. We may as well start in two pairs and one three." Derek announced as he and two large unfriendly looking men stepped to the side. Yugi, Sabrina and Joey instantly followed them. Kaiba and Tea were against twins, both identical and evil looking while Liviana and Bakura took on the weakest looking pair, though they all knew that looks could be deceiving. Bakura, Liviana, Yugi and Sabrina changed at once into their doubles and the darkness of the shadow realm grew about them as Bakura's ring glowed,

"What's going on?" Derek asked a little nervously as the darkness surrounded them. Ryou laughed loudly, sending chills down Kaiba's spin, a difficult thing to do.

"You wanted a shadow game, so now you have one!" Ryou laughed. Derek suddenly looked less confident and stepped back as he caught sight of Sabrina, whose Yami looked so much older and stronger than Sabrina. Tea and Kaiba drew their cards, Tea looked in her hand. Not quite believing her luck she lifted a card,

"I'll place this face down and summon 'Dunames Dark Witch' in attack mode, and end my turn." Tea said, looking over at Kaiba, who nodded to her. He looked at his cards thoughtfully,

"I summon 'La gin, the mystical genie of the lamp' in attack mode and end my turn." He said, summoning the green genie that floated beside the white clad witch. The twins remained silent for a moment,

"I summon 'Archfiend Soldier' and attack Dunames." One twin announced. A dark purple demon soldier appeared, its attack was 1900, 100 points more than Dunames. Tea gasped as a fraction of her soul was lost to the shadows and her witch exploded into a thousand fragments and taking her life points down to 3900.

"Activate trap, 'Crush card.' This will infect first your hand and then your deck, sending all monsters with an attack above 1400 to the graveyard." Tea announced as her trap card flipped over. Kaiba gave Tea a nod of approval as the twin's hand fell down to just two cards.

"I end my turn." The twin said. The second twin shifted through his cards until he decided on one.

"I play a monster in defence and end my turn." He announced. Tea drew a card and looked at her hand,

"I summon 'Siren of Winter,' then I'll activate his special ability and summon 'Siren of Summer,' 'Siren of Spring' and 'Siren of Autumn,' all of which have an attack power of 1800 each, making a grand total of 7200. Sirens of winter, autumn and summer, attack the defenceless one." She ordered; pointing to the twin she had used the crush card on. He cowered as the three sirens, who looked very much like male harpies, but wearing flowing white robes with seasonal flowered in their hair, attack him. His life points dropped to zero and Tea looked away as he faded, screaming in agony. "I end my turn." She announced. Kaiba drew and looked at his cards thoughtfully,

"I place one card face down and summon the 'Siren of Summer,' then I'll summon the rest of the sirens using her ability. I'll place La gin in defence mode and attack with my Siren of summer." He announced, watching as his siren attacked the defensive monster, which was 'Big Shield Guardner.' Whose defence was 2600, taking 800 life points from Kaiba leaving him with 3200. Big Shield Guardner switched to attack mode as a result, leaving the ghoul's life points more or less open. "Then I'll let the rest of my sirens attack," Kaiba continued, watching as winter destroyed the Guardner, which had an attack of 100, leaving the twin with 2300 life points, which dropped to zero as the other sirens attacked. The second twin faded away. They had won their battle. Tea looked over to Ryou and Sahara, who had defeated one but still had one more left. Yugi, Serena and Joey only had Derek to deal with. Suddenly there was a cry from Joey and he faded away,

"Joey no!" Tea cried as she watched. Derek had used 'Change of Heart' on Yugi's 'Dark Magician' and had used him to destroy Joey's 'Flame Swordsman,' taking Joey's life points to zero. There was a cry from Ryou's duel and the ghoul disappeared.

 

* * *

 

"I now sacrifice two monsters from my hand to ritual summon my 'Masked Beast,'" Serena cried and suddenly a huge monster appeared on the field, it looked like a centaur wearing a mask except the rear half was more like a dragon. The beast had 3200 attack points, more than enough to finish Derek, who now had no defences left. "Attack." Serena ordered. Tea felt her heart leap as Derek's life points dropped to zero and he faded into the darkness, _but that doesn't bring Joey back!_ Tea thought inwardly, but suddenly Joey reappeared and fell to the ground.

 

"Joey!" Tea cried as she ran to him. Joey got up and brushed himself off as the shadows faded, "What happened?" Tea asked in confusion, Joey shrugged and looked at Yami, who was smiling in understanding.

"It was in the rules all along. If we won, we kept the items and if we lost we were sent to the shadow realm. We, not singulars, a collective meaning more than one of us had to lose. We won so we all keep the items, they all lost so they remain in the shadows, no doubt that would have worked in their favour also." He explained. Tea nodded in agreement, it was the only thing that made sense.

"Now that we've warmed up, how about that re-match? You owe me a duel after last time." Kaiba challenged. Yami nodded and activated his duel disk. Tea and the others gathered round to watch when the shadow real opened up again. "What's going on?" Kaiba wondered aloud as the shadows surrounded them, _this isn't right!_ he thought. Tea looked at the shadows and knew what was happening. Shadows were entering Kaiba and Yami from behind; evil influences that focused on their hate and resentment, though Yami didn't have much within. Kaiba suddenly grew cold and felt a deep hatred for Yami and Yugi; "This time you'll lose Pharaoh!" he found himself shouting, _what's going on?_ he wondered in a slight panic. Tea felt something stir within, as if another part of her had suddenly awakened.

"Kaiba stop!" she shouted, suddenly dreading the duel, _they're going to kill each other!_ she realised in horror as she watched through the necklace. Kaiba acted as if he hadn't heard, _I have to do this so that we can be together._ he thought as he looked at his opponent.

 

* * *

 

The duel wore on furiously until Kaiba had the Black-eyed Gold Dragon facing Yami's Sliphur. The attack points were even.

 

"I'll sacrifice my dragon to summon all three of the Blue-eyed White Dragons to the field!" Kaiba shouted. The single dragon vanished to be replaced by three slightly smaller white ones.

"Fine, then I'll summon my Dark Magician and activate book of spells to boost his attack to 3000." Yami announced. The purple clad magician appeared, flicked through a book and then faced the three dragons.

"White Lightening attack!" Kaiba shouted to one of his dragons,

"Dark Magic attack!" the Pharaoh responded to his magician. Suddenly a ball of white light and a ball of black magic flew across the sands creating a sand storm. Tea watched in horror until she couldn't stop herself,

"Both of you just stop!" she cried. Kaiba and Yami cried out as Tea ran onto the field and stood between the attacks, disappearing in a ball of bright light that looked like an explosion.

"Tea!" Kaiba cried as he shielded his eyes from the light. As the black sand cleared Kaiba ran forward, his dragons disappearing and Yami also ran forward, the magician fading away. Kaiba fell to his knees by Tea and cradled the upper half of her body in his arms, she was limp and the cloth over her eyes prevented anyone from seeing whether her eyelids were open of shut, but it wouldn't have made any difference. Kaiba touched her neck and waited a few moments,

"There's no pulse...she's dead," He cried, Yami then fell to his knees, his expression dark,

"What have we done?" he said vacantly as he looked at Tea's body. Kaiba leaned down over Tea's body and cried silently, willing her to open her eyes. Suddenly he felt the rod begin to vibrate. He touched it and found himself in Egypt.

 

* * *

 

"There is only one thing to do, you must ask the creatures for help, only they have the power to restore her." A woman with long dark hair said. She was standing in Seth's home, looking closely as Telar's body.

 

"The creatures?" Kaiba asked. The woman turned and nodded,

"Yes, only the ones who killed her can be expected to give her life again." She replied. Seth nodded and the woman left, allowing the Pharaoh to enter,

"She is right Priest Seth, and it will take both of our monsters to undo what has been done." He said. Seth turned to the Pharaoh with a glare.

 

* * *

 

Suddenly Kaiba found himself looking at a great statue of a blue-eyes white dragon carved in stone. Looking back he saw a dark magician statue. Seth knelt before the dragon holding Telar's body, which he had wrapped in a cloak. The Pharaoh knelt before the magician.

 

"Loyal Blue-eyes White Dragon, heed my call. Assist me to undo what has been done…please Kisara…help." he whispered at the end. Suddenly the stone dragon shattered and came to life. For an instant Kaiba thought he saw the image of Kisara as a spirit standing before the dragon, but then she was gone. Behind there was a shatter and the magician broke free of the rock.

 

* * *

 

"We have to ask our cards for help." Kaiba said suddenly as he came out of the trance. Yami nodded in agreement as if he had seen the same vision.

 

"I summon the Blue-eyed White Dragon!" Kaiba shouted as he place the dragon card on his duel disk.

"I summon the Dark Magician!" Yami shouted. The Magician also appeared and both monsters looked at their masters.

"Please undo what has been done here." Kaiba begged as he knelt beside Tea and stroked her hair. The Magician looked to Yami who nodded in agreement. The Magician raised his staff and a sudden wind picked up. Tea was raised from the ground into the vortex, the dragon let out a slow beam of lightening that got caught in the vortex with the magician's magic. The swirl of black and white light was giving Kaiba a headache and making him dizzy, but he couldn't look away. Suddenly the speed increased, and kept increasing until there was a blinding flash that lit up the whole shadow realm and the Tea was slowly lowered to the ground and the monsters vanished. "Tea?" Kaiba asked uncertainly as he cradled her head. He pulled the cloth away from her eyes slowly, hoping the he would see some sign there. Her eyes were closed, but Kaiba was sure he felt her pulse at the back of her neck. "Tea." He said again, leaning down and kissing her gently. She stirred and opened her eyes, and her eyes were there. They were now a cross between dark blue and lilac, which seemed to make a delicate light blue; that would occasionally appear light purple. Tea raised a hand to her eyes in amazement.

"Kaiba?" she asked as she looked up and reached a hand to his face. Kaiba caught the hand and kissed it,

"I'm here." He assured her as he lifted her up. As he lifted her the shadows faded away as suddenly as they had come.

 

* * *

 

A week later…

 

Liviana sat in Bakura's living room watching the television with Bakura beside her with his arm around her shoulder. She looked sideways at him, he was fidgety, she was sure he was trying to say something, but wasn't going to press him about it. She leaned back and looked over at him only to find him staring at her.

"Liviana…there was something I wanted to ask you…I mean, you don't have to, I understand if you don't, but…well, I was wondering if…will you move in here with me?" he asked suddenly. Liviana looked at him in shock, she hadn't been expecting that at all. Bakura looked back at the television and blushed, "Don't worry, it's a stupid idea…I don't know what I wa-" he began before being cut off by a kiss. Liviana pushed him back on the sofa and lay beside him,

"Yes." She replied before kissing him again.

 

* * *

 

"What do you mean married?" Joey shouted down the phone. Mai sighed and looked over to the kitchen where Joey was talking to Serenity, "Engaged? Married? What's the difference? You better come back here, mum's gonna go mad when she finds out! What? Of course I love you, that's why I don't want you marrying that…never mind. Sorry, I just…you're my sister Serenity and I'm supposed to look out for you, how can I do that when you're a million miles away?" Joey asked, calming down. There was silence for a long while, "Ok, see you next summer." Joey replied before hanging up the phone. Joey entered the room and slumped on the sofa beside Mai, who looked over at him.

 

"It's not the end of the road Joey, she's not that far away, and she's with Ishizu too." Mai pointed out. Joey sighed, but seemed a little happier as he leaned back,

"Yeah…I guess we'll just have to wait and see." He replied more to himself than to Mai.

 

* * *

 

"I wish you weren't leaving." Yugi said as he walked through the train station with Sabrina, who was going back to her mother. She sighed and looked at the train, which would leave soon. She had a backpack on and a single case, which Yugi was pulling. She took the case and lifted it up.

 

"Me too, but I'll be back, I promise." She replied as she leaned down a little and kissed Yugi swiftly. There was an announcement for final passengers and Yugi released her from his hug.

"Well, good bye." He said, Sabrina smiled sadly and turned, walking towards the train. Yugi watched until she was on the train, she sat by the window and looked at him. He held up a hand as the train began to move away, seeing tears fall down her face. **We'll see her again.** Yami assured as Yugi left the station, _yeah…next summer isn't too far away._ Yugi replied.

 

* * *

 

"I don't understand." Kaiba said as Tea packed her last case and carried it downstairs, Kaiba close behind. At the door the taxi driver took her case for her, leaving her to say good-bye to Kaiba.

 

"Think about it, everything was just a repeat of the past. It had all happened before and was supposed to happed again." She began. Kaiba nodded, he had figured that much out, "Don't you understand? We don't really love each other, it was just the past re-playing itself, I don't know why, but how can we stay together? All we have are feelings from a past life." She replied as she began to walk towards the taxi, Kaiba followed and took her wrist, pulling her back to him,

"But I do love you." He replied urgently, feeling tears welling in his eyes. Tea smiled sadly, a tear falling down her cheek. She pulled her hand out of his grip and place a hand on his chest.

"I'll always be here then." She replied before getting into the taxi and driving away. Kaiba stood and watched the taxi leave, absently raising his hand to the spot she hand touched, feeling somehow that she was now a part of him.


End file.
